LB 


IRLF 


LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT  OK 

,  &ubfji& 

Received  ,  IQO 

Accession  No.       8-2-742-    •    Cla*s  No' 


THE 


Public  Statutes  of  Massachusetts 


RELATING    TO 


PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION, 


ANNOTATIONS  AND  EXPLANATIONS, 


INCLUDING   THE   LAWS    IN   FORCE 
JUNE,    1892. 


BOSTON  : 

WRIGHT   &   POTTER  PRINTING  CO.,  STATE   PRINTERS, 

18  POST  OFFICE  SQUARE. 

1892. 


THE 


Public  Statutes  of  Massachusetts 


RELATING    TO 


PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION, 


ANNOTATIONS  AND  EXPLANATIONS, 


INCLUDING   THE    LAWS    IN   FORCE 
JUNE,    1892. 


BOSTON : 

WRIGHT  &  POTTER  PRINTING   CO.,   STATE   PRINTERS, 

18  POST  OFFICE  SQUARE. 

1892. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Foundation  of  our  Public  Schools .  5_9 

Statutes  relating  to  Education, 10 

Board  of  Education, 10-18 

Teachers'  Institutes  and  Associations, 19-22 

The  School  Funds, 23-27 

The  Public  Schools, .  28-52 

School  Registers  and  Returns, 53-57 

The  Attendance  of  the  Children  in  the  Schools, 57-C2 

Employment  of  Children  and  Regulations  respecting  them C2-Cr, 

Truant  Children  and  Truant  Officers, 6973 

Protection  of  Destitute  and  Abandoned  Children,     ......  74 

Miscellaneous  Statutes, 75  76 

Normal  Schools, 77-80 

State  Scholarships, 81-84 


82742 


FOUNDATION  OF  OUB  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


Lord  Macaulay  once  said  in  Parliament:  "  Illustrious  for- 
ever in  history  were  the  founders  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  ;  though  their  love  of  freedom  of  conscience  was 
illimitable  and  indestructible  they  could  see  nothing  servile 
or  degrading  in  the  principle  that  the  State  should  take  upon 
itself  the  charge  of  the  education  of  the  people.  In  the  year 
1642  they  passed  their  first  legislative  enactment  on  this  subject, 
in  the  preamble  of  which  they  distinctly  pledged  themselves  to 
this  principle,  that  education  is  a  matter  of  the  deepest  pos- 
sible importance  and  the  greatest  possible  interest  to  all  nations 
and  to  all  communities,  and  that  as  such  it  is,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  deserving  of  the  peculiar  attention  of  the  State." 
[Speedi  on  Government  Plan  of  Education,  April  19,  1847.] 

ORDINANCE  OF  1642. 

At  a  session  of  the  General  Court  of  the  Colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  in  New  England  commenced  on  the  14th  of  June, 
1642,  the  court,  taking  into  consideration  the  great  neglect  in 
many  parents  and  masters  in  training  up  their  children  in 
learning,  ordered  and  decreed  :  — 

That  in  every  town  the  chosen  men  appointed  for  managing  the 
prudential  affairs  of  the  same  shall  henceforth  stand  charged  with  the 
care  of  the  redress  of  this  evil ;  and  for  this  end  they  shall  have 
power  to  take  account  from  time  to  time  of  their  parents  and  masters, 
and  of  their  children,  concerning  thei*.  calling  and  employment  of 
their  children,  especially  of  their  ability  to  read  and  understand  the 
principles  of  religion  and  the  capital  laws  of  the  country,  and  to 
impose  fines  upon  all  those  who  refuse  to  render  such  account  to  them 
when  required ;  and  they  shall  have  power  to  put  forth  ^apprentices 
the  children  of  such  as  they  shall  find  not  to  be  able  and  fit  to  employ 
and  bring  them  up.  [Mass.  Coll.  Records,  vol.  2,  pp.  6-9.] 


6  SCHOOL   LAWS,  [June, 

ORDIXAXCE  OF  1647. 
The  following  ordinance  was  adopted  Nov.  11,  1647  :  — 

It  being  one  cbiefe  project  of  that  ould  deluder,  Satan,  to  keepe 
men  from  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  as  in  former  times  by 
keeping  them  in  an  unknowne  tongue,  so  in  these  latter  times  by  per- 
suading from  the  use  of  tongues,  that  so  at  least  the  true  sence  and 
meaning  of  the  originall  might  be  clouded  by  false  glosses  of  saint 
seeming  deceivers,  that  learning  may  not  be  buried  in  the  grave  of 
our  fathers  in  the  Church  and  Commonwealth,  the  Lord  assisting  our 
endeavors : — 

It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  every  township  in  this  jurisdiction, 
after  the  Lord  hath  increased  them  to  the  number  of  50  householders, 
shall  then  forthwith  appoint  one  within  their  towne,  to  teach  all  such 
children,  as  shall  resort  to  him  to  write  and  reade  whose  wages  shall 
be  paid  either  by  the  parents  or  masters  of  such  children,  or  by  the 
inhabitants  in  generall,  by  way  of  supply,  as  the  major  part  of  those 
that  order  the  prudentials  of  the  towne  shall  appoint;  Provided, 
those  that  send  their  children  be  not  oppressed  by  paying  much  more 
than  they  can  have  them  taught  in  other  townes  ;  — 

And  it  is  further  ordered  that  where  any  towne  shall  increase  to  the 
number  of  100  families  or  householders  they  shall  set  up  a  grammar 
schoole,  the  Master  thereof  being  able  to  instruct  youth  so  farr  as 
they  may  be  fited  for  the  university.  Provided,  that  if  any  towne 
neglect  the  performance  hereof  above  one  yeare,  every  such  town 
shall  pay  5s  to  the  next  schoole  till  they  shall  perform  this  order. 
[Mass.  Coll.  Records,  vol.  2,  p.  203.] 

The  act  of  1642  enjoined  upon  the  municipal  authorities  the 
duty  of  making  education  universal,  but  not  necessarily  free. 
The  act  of  1647  made  the  support  of  public  schools  compulsory, 
and  education  universal  and  free.  As  this  was  the  first  law  of 
the  kind  ever  passed  by  any  community  of  persons  or  by  any 
State,  Massachusetts  may  claim  the  honor  of  having  originated 
the  free  public  school.  At  this  time  it  was  ordered  that  every 
town  of  one  hundred  families,  in  addition  to'  its  elementary 
schools,  should  establish  and  maintain  a  grammar  school  which 
should  fit  pupils  for  the  University  at  Cambridge.  In  1683  all 
towns  of  five  hundred  families  were  required  to  maintain  two 
grammar  schools  and  two  writing  schools.  These  were  the 
principal  laws  establishing  and  regulating  the  schools  during 
the  colonial  period. 


1892.]  CONSTITUTIONAL   PROVISIONS. 


EDUCATIONAL  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

In  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  adopted  in  1780,  is  the 
following :  — 

[Chap.  5,  sect.  2.] 

THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  LITERATURE,  ETC. 

Wisdom,  and    knowledge,  as  well  as  virtue,  diffused   gen-  Duty  of  legis- 

erally  among  the  body  of  the  people,  being  necessary  for  the  miguJrates  in 

preservation  of  their  rights  and  liberties  ;  and  as  these  depend  aUrfoJj|re  por 

on  spreading  the  opportunities  and  advantages  of  education  in  further  pro- 

the  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  among  the  different  orders  public 

of  the  people,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  legislators  and  magis-  SSSJjraefto, 

trates,  in  all  future  periods  of  this  commonwealth,  to  cherish  ^,rt;^VI1,1' 

\Z    A  IJf'ii,  oUU— 

the  interests  of  literature  and  the  sciences,  and  all  seminaries   508. 

10'3  Muss   94 

of  them  ;  especially  the  university  at  Cambridge,  public  schools  97. 
and  grammar  schools  in  the  towns ;  to  encourage  private 
societies  and  public  institutions,  rewards  and  immunities,  for 
the  promotion  of  agriculture,  arts,  sciences,  commerce,  trades, 
manufactures  and  a  natural  history  of  the  country  ;  to  counte- 
nance and  inculcate  the  principles  of  humanity  and  general 
benevolence,  public  and  private  charity,  industry  and  frugality, 
honesty  and  punctuality  in  their  dealings ;  sincerity,  good 
humor,  and  all  social  affections,  and  generous  sentiments, 
among  the  people. 

[Amendments,  Art.  18.] 

Xo  PUBLIC  MONEY  TO  BE  USED  FOR  SECTARIAN  SCHOOLS. 

ART.  XVIII.     All  moneys  raised  by  taxation  in  the  towns   School 
and  cities  for  the  support  of  public  schools,  and  all  moneys   to"be  appSed 
which  may  be  appropriated  by  the  state  for  the  support  of   j£hooistarian 
common  schools,  shall  be  applied  to,  and  expended  in,  no  other    12  Allen,  500, 
schools   than    those  which   are  conducted   according  to   law,   los'Mass.  94, 
under  the  order  and  superintendence  of  the  authorities  of  the   96> 
town  or  city  in  which  the  money  is  to  be  expended ;  and  such 
moneys  shall  never  be  appropriated  to  any  religious  sect  for 
the  maintenance   exclusively  of    its   own   school.      [Adopted 
May  23,  1855] 

SUBSEQUENT  ORGANIC  LEGISLATION. 

In  1789  a  general  act  was  passed  requiring  every  town  to 
maintain  one  school  for  the  term  of  six  months,  or  two  or  more 
schools  for  terms  of  time  that  shall  together  be  equivalent  to 
six  months,  in  which  shall  be  taught  orthography,  reading, 
writing,  English  grammar,  geography  and  decent  behavior. 

At  this  time  it  was  ordered  that  the  towns  be  divided  into 
districts  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  attendance  of  the 


8  SCHOOL   LAWS.  [June,, 

children  upon  the  schools.  The  schools  were  still  to  be  under 
the  direct  control  of  the  towns. 

It  was  further  ordered  that  towns  of  two  hundred  families, 
instead  of  one  hundred,  as  before,  should  constitute  the  mini- 
mum number  for  supporting  a  grammar  school,  and  that 
teachers  should  have  a  certificate  of  good  moral  as  well  as 
intellectual  character.  In  1800  an  act  of  the  legislature 
authorized  the  selectmen  of  the  towns  to  call  district  meetings 
at  which  the  legal  voters  therein  should  raise  money  for  build- 
ing school-houses,  and  for  supplying  them  with  all  necessary 
furniture. 

In  1817  school  districts  were  made  corporations,  and  were 
empowered  to  hold  property  for  the  use  of  the  schools.  The 
final  Act  abolishing  the  district  system  was  passed  in  1882.  In 
1826  every  town  containing  five  hundred  families  was  required 
to  maintain  a  town  or  high  school,  which  should  differ  from  the 
old  grammar  school  by  omitting  from  its  curriculum  of  studies 
the  Latin  and  Greek  languages.  If  the  town  contained  four 
thousand  inhabitants,  it  was  required  to  maintain  a  higher 
grade  of  high  school,  in  which  the  classic  languages  were  to  be 
taught. 

The  school  law  of  1826  was  the  first  to  require  towns  to  elect 
a  town  school  committee.  By  a  law  passed  in  1827,  school 
districts  were  authorized  to  take  care  of  their  school-houses, 
and  to  contract  with  their  school  teachers. 

The  Massachusetts  school  fund  was  established  in  1834. 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1837,  in  the  Massachusetts  House 
of  Representatives,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Committee  on 
Education  be  requested  to  consider  the  expediency  of  providing 
by  law  for  the  better  education  of  teachers  of  public  schools. 
On  the  14th  of  April  of  the  same  year,  a  bill  relating  to  com- 
mon schools  was  taken  up,  and  the  House  resolved  itself  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole  for  the  consideration  thereof,  and  Mr. 
Winthrop  of  Boston,  for  the  Committee  on  Education,  reported 
that  the  said  bill,  with  sundry  amendments  recommended  by 
the  committee,  ought  to  pass,  and  the  bill  was  ordered  to  a 
third  reading.  The  report  was  as  follows  :  — 

u  The  Committee  on  Education,  to  whom  wa*s  referred  so  much  of 
His  Excellency  the  Governor's  address  as  relates  to  education,  and 


1892.]  NORMAL   SCHOOLS.  9* 

to  whom  was  also  referred,  '  The  memorial  of  the  Directors  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Instruction,'  and  the  petition  of  a  convention 
of  delegates  from  each  of  the  towns  in  Plymouth  County,  and  who 
were  directed  by  order  of  the  House,  Jan.  14,  1837,  to  consider  the 
expediency  of  providing  by  law  for  the  better  education  of  teachers, 
of  the  public  schools  of  the  Commonwealth,  have  carefully  considered 
those  subjects,  and  report  thereon  the  accompanying  bill : 

"Be  it  enacted,  etc. 

"His  Excellency  the  Governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  coun- 
cil, is  hereby  authorized  to  appoint  eight  persons,  who,  together  with  the 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor,  shall  constitute  and  be  denominated  the 
Board  of  Education." 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Board  was  the  establishment  of 
schools  for  the  special  education  of  teachers.  In  1839  two- 
normal  schools  were  opened,  —  one  at  Lexington,  afterward 
removed  to  West  Newton,  thence  to  Framingham ;  the  other 
at  Barre,  afterward  removed  to  Westfield.  In  1840  one  was 
opened  at  Bridge  water ;  in  1854,  one  at  Salem;  and  in  1874, 
another  at  Worcester.  A  Normal  Art  School  was  established 
in  Boston  in  1873.  Teachers'  institutes  were  first  established  in. 
Massachusetts  in  1846. 


10 


BOARD    OF   EDUCATION. 


[Chap. 


STATUTE   LAW   RELATING   TO   EDUCATION. 


PUBLIC    STATUTES  —TITLE   X. 
OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  AND  REGULATIONS  RESPECTING  CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER  41.  —  Of  the  Board  of  Education. 

CHAPTER  42. —  Of  Teachers'  Institutes  and  Associations. 

CHAPTER  43.  —  Of  the  School  Funds. 

CHAPTER  44.  — Of  the  Public  Schools. 

CHAPTER  46.  —Of  School  Registers  and  Returns. 

CHAPTER  47.  —  Of  the  Attendance  of  Children  in  the  Schools. 

CHAPTER  48.  —  Of  the  Employment  of  Children,  and  Regulations  respecting  them. 


CHAPTER   41. 
OF  THE    BOARD    OF  EDUCATION. 


SECTION 

1.  Board  of  education,  how  organized; 
term  of  office ;  vacancies. 

2.  may  take  grants,  devises,  etc.,  in 
trust  for  educational   purposes;    to 
pay  all  monies  to  treasurer.     Duty 
of  treasurer. 

3.  shall  prescribe  form  of  school  reg- 
isters, and  of    blanks  for  returns; 
transmit  abstracts  of    returns,  and 
report,  to  legislature. 

4.  may  appoint  secretary,  who  shall 
make  abstracts,  collect  and  diffuse 
information,  etc. 

5.  Secretary    shall    suggest     improve- 
ments, visit  different  places,   collect 
books,  receive  reports,  etc. 

6.  shall  give  notice  and  attend  meet- 
ings of  teachers,  etc.,  and  collect  in- 
formation, etc. 

7.  shall  send  blank  forms  and  reports 
to  clerks  of  towns  and  cities. 


howdu" 


SECTIOX 

8.  Compensation  of  secretary,  and  ex 
penses  of  office. 

9.  Board  may  appoint  agents  to  make 
inquiry,  etc. 

10.  Expenses  of  Board,  how  paid 

11.  Assistant  state  librarian  may  act  as 
clerk. 

12.  Board  to  have  management  of  nor- 
mal schools,  and  charge  of  expendi- 
tures of  appropriations. 

13.  Statistics    required    of     officers     of 
schools  and  others  respecting  pupils, 
instruction,  etc. 

14.  blanks  for,  to  be  prepared. 

15.  Institutions   for  instruction  of  deaf, 
dumb,  and  blind  to  report  to   the 
board. 

16.  With  the  approval  of  the  board,  deaf 
mutes,  etc.,  may  be  instructed  at  the 
public  expense. 

17.  Board  to  supervise  their  education, 
and  report  concerning  the  same,  etc. 


SECTION  I-  The  board  of  education  shall  consist  of  the 
organized;  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  and  eight  persons  appointed 
vacancies.  '  by  the  governor  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council, 
efstS^i.1'  each  to  nolcl  office  ei£nt  veai's  from  the  time  of  his  appoint- 

ment, and  one  to  retire  each  year  in  the  order  of  appointment  ; 

and  the  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council, 

shall  fill  all  vacancies  in  the  board. 


41.] 


MEMBERS    OF   BOARD. 


11 


The  following  list  of  the  members  of  the  Board,  named  in 
the  order  of  their  appointment,  or  connection  with  it,  is  com- 
plete to  the  present  time  :  — 


James.  G.  Carter. 
Emerson  Davis. 
Edmund  Dwight. 
Horace  Mann. 


George  Putnam. 
Charles  Hudson. 
George  N.  Briggs. 
William  G.  Bates. 
John  W.  James. 
Elisha  Bartlett. 
Heman  Humphrey. 
Stephen  C.  Phillips. 
Barnas  Sears. 
Edwin  H.  Chapin. 
Henry  B.  Hooker. 
Stephen  P.  Webb. 
Thomas  Kinnicutt. 
Joseph  W.  Ingraham. 
John  A.  Bolles. 
George  B.  Emerson. 
Charles  K.  True. 
Mark  Hopkins. 
Edward  Otheman. 
Isaac  Davis. 
Alexander  H.  Vinton. 
George  S.  Boutwell. 
Henry  Wheatland. 
Hosea  Ballou. 
Ariel  Parish. 
Cornelius  C.  Felton. 
Alonzo  H.  Quint. 
William  A.  Stearns. 
Russell  Tomlinson. 
Erastus  O.  Haven. 
David  H.  Mason. 


Edward  Everett. 
Marcus  Morton. 
John  Davis. 
George  N.  Briggs. 
George  S.  Boutwell. 


Original  Members. 

Edward  A.  Newton. 
Robert  Rantoul,  Jr. 
Thomas  Robbins. 
Jared  Sparks. 

Appointed  Since. 

John  P.  Marshall. 

Emory  Washburn. 

Abner  J.  Phipps. 

James  Freeman  Clarke. 

William  Rice. 

John  D.  Philbrick. 

Samuel  T.  Seelye. 

George  T.  Wilde. 

Gardiner  G.  Hubbard. 

Alonzo  A.  Miner. . 

Henry  Chapin. 

Constantine  C.  Esty. 

Edward  B.  Gillett. 

Phillips  Brooks. 

Christopher  C.Hussey. 

Charles  B.  Rice. 

Elijah  B.  Stoddard. 

Horatio  G.  Knight. 

Miss  Abby  W.  May. 

Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr. 

Milton  B.  Whitney. 

Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson. 

Admiral  P.  Stone. 

Francis  A.  Walker. 

Edward  C.  Carrigan. 

Horace  E.  Scudder. 

Elmer  H.  Capen, 

Kate  Gannett  Wells. 

Alice  Freeman  Palmer. 

George  I.  Aldrich. 

Ex-Ojficiis. —  Governors. 

John  H.  Clifford. 
Emory  Washburn. 
Henry  J.  Gardner. 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks. 
John  A.  Andrew. 


12 


BOARD    OF   EDUCATION. 


[Chap. 


Alexander  H.  Bullock. 
William  Claflin. 
William  B.  Washburn. 
William  Gaston. 
Alexander  H.  Rice. 
Thomas  Talbot. 


John  D.  Long. 
Benjamin  F.  Butler. 
George  D.  Robinson. 
Oliver  Ames. 
John  Q.  A.  Brackett. 
William  E.  Russell. 


Lieutenant-  Governors. 


George  Hull. 
Henry  H.  Childs. 
John  Reed. 
Henry  W.  Cushman. 
Elisha  Huntington. 
William  C.  Plunkett. 
Simon  Brown. 
Henry  W.  Benchley. 
Eliphalet  Trask. 
John  Z.  Goodrich. 


John  Nesmith. 
Joel  Hay  den. 
William  Claflin. 
Joseph  Tucker. 
Thomas  Talbot. 
Horatio  G.  Knight. 
Byron  Weston 
Oliver  Ames. 
J.  Q.  A.  Brackett. 
William  H.  Haile. 

GRANTS  FOR  EDUCATIONAL  PURPOSES. 


Board  of  edu- 
cation may 
take  grants, 
etc.,  in  trust, 
for  educa- 
tional pur- 
poses, etc. 


Duty  of  treas- 
urer. 
1850,  88. 
G-.  S.  34,  §  2. 


SECT.  2.  The  board  may  take  and  hold,  in  trust  for  the 
commonwealth,  any  grant  or  devise  of  lands,  and  any  donation 
or  bequest  of  money  or  other  personal  property,  made  to  it  for 
educational  purposes;  and  shall  forthwith  pay  over  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  commonwealth,  for  safe  keeping  and  invest- 
ment, all  money  and  other  personal  property  so  received.  The 
treasurer  shall  from  time  to  time  invest  all  such  money  in  the 
name  of  the  commonwealth,  and  shall  pay  to  the  board,  on  the 
warrant  of  the  governor,  the  income  or  principal  thereof,  as  it 
shall  from  time  to  time  require ;  but  no  disposition  shall  be 
made  of  any  devise,  donation,  or  bequest  inconsistent  with  the 
conditions  or  terms  thereof.  For  the  faithful  management  of 
all  property  so  received  by  the  treasurer  he  shall  be  respon- 
sible, upon  his  bond  to  the  commonwealth,  as  for  other  funds 
received  by  him  in  his  official  capacity. 

TODD  FUND. 

The  only  trust  in  the  control  of  the  Board  under  this  section 
is  the  bequest  of  Henry  Todd,  Esq.,  late  of  Boston.  The 
amount  of  this  fund  when  it  was  established  was  $10,797.72. 
Its  present  amount  is  $12,100.00..  By  the  terms  of  the  will  the 
income  is  to  "  be  applied  in  aid  of  the  normal  schools,  of  this 
Commonwealth,  the  same  to  be  subject  to  no  sectarian  purposes 
or  objects  of  a  religious  character." 

The  Board  applies  the  income  of  this  fund  to  such  specific 
objects  in  connection  wTith  the  normal  schools  as  are  not  pro- 
vided for  by  the  appropriations  of  the  Legislature. 


41.]  KEGISTERS   AND   RETURNS.  13 

REGISTERS  AND  RETURNS. 

SECT.  3.     The  board  shall  prescribe  the  form  of  registers  to  Board  of  edu- 
be  kept  in  the  schools,  and  the  form  of  the  blanks  and  inquiries   prescribe 
for  the  returns  to  be  made  by  school  committees  ;  shall  annually 
on  or  before  the  third  Wednesday  of  January  lay  before  the   J]jj£,8sf  etc 
general  court  an  annual  report  containing  a  printed  abstract  of   1837, 241,  §§  2, 
said  returns,  and  a  detailed  report  of  all  the  doings  of  the   1838,  105,  §§  5- 
board,  with  such  observations  upon  the  condition  and  efficiency   5g46>  223,  §  3. 
of   the  system  of    popular  education,  and    such    suggestions   ^4|-  23°49- 
in  regard  to  the  most  practicable  means  of  improving  and 
extending  it,  as  the  experience  and  reflection  of  the  board  may 
dictate. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  prescribe  a  blank 
form  of  school  register  to  be  used  in  all  the  public  schools  of 
the  State.  The  registers  are  to  be  sent  to  every  town,  and 
delivered  to  the  committee  by  the  town  clerk,  one  for  each 
school  in  the  town.  The  committees  are  responsible  for  the 
registers  after  they  are  received,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  com- 
mittee to  cause  the  registers  to  be  faithfully  kept  in  all  the 
schools. 

The  blank  forms  of  inquiry  sent  to  the  towns  to  be  filled  out 
and  returned,  together  with  the  reports  of  the  school  com- 
mittees, furnish  the  data  from  which  the  annual  report  of  the 
Board  to  the  Legislature  is  principally  made. 

It  is  highly  important  that  these  returns  should  be  accurate, 
as  school  legislation  and  the  distribution  of  the  income  of  the 
school  fund  are  largely  based  on  them. 

The  school  registers  are  to  be  retained  by  the  school  com- 
mittees. The  filled-out  forms  of  inquiry  only  are  to  be 
returned. 

SECRETARY  AND  His  DUTIES. 

SECT.  4.    The  board  may  appoint  its  own  secretary,  who,      raay  ap- 
under  its  direction,  shall  make  the  abstract  of  school  returns   {JJfy  *  J^o*" 
required  by  the  preceding  section ;  shall  collect  information   sha11  make 

J  abstracts,  etc. 

respecting  the  condition  and  efficiency  of  the  public  schools   1837,  241,  §  2. 
and  other  means  of  popular  education ;    and  shall  diffuse  as   1349!  215)  §  i! 
widely  as  possible  throughout  the  commonwealth  information   G<  s>  34>  §4- 
concerning  the  best  system  of  studies  and  the  best  method  of 
instruction    for  the    young  in  order  that  the  best  education 
which  public  schools  can  be  made  to  impart  may  be  secured  to 
all  children  who  depend  upon  them  for  instruction. 

Under  this  section,  Horace  Mann,  a  member  of  the  first 
Board  of  Education,  was  chosen  its  first  secretary  and  served 


14 


BOARD    OF   EDUCATION. 


[Chap. 


Secretary 
shall  suggest 
improve- 
ments, etc. 
1849,215,  §1. 
1858,  61. 
G-.  8.  34,  §  5. 


from  1837  to  1848.  His  successor  was  Barnas  Sears,  who 
served  till  1855.  George  S.  Boutwell  served  from  1855  to 
1860  ;  Joseph  White  from  1860  to  1877.  John  W.  Dickinson, 
the  present  secretary,  was  appointed  in  1877. 

SECT.  5.  The  Secretary  shall  suggest  to  the  board  and  to 
the  general  court  improvements  in  the  present  system  of  pub- 
lic schools  ;  shall  visit,  as  often  as  his  other  duties  will  permit, 
different  parts  of  the  commonwealth  for  the  purpose  of  arous- 
ing and  guiding  public  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  practical 
interests  of  education ;  shall  collect  in  his  office  such  school 
books,  apparatus,  maps,  and  charts,  as  can  be  obtained  without 
expense  to  the  commonwealth ;  shall  receive  and  arrange  in 
his  office  the  reports  and  returns  of  the  school  committees ; 
and  shall  receive,  preserve,  or  distribute,  the  state  documents  in 
relation  to  the  public  school  system. 

SECT.  6.  He  shall,  under  the  direction  of  the  board,  give 
sufficient  notice  of  and  attend  such  meetings  of  teachers  of 
public  schools,  of  members  of  the  school  committees  of  the 
several  towns,  and  of  friends  of  education  generally  in  any 
county,  as  may  voluntarily  assemble  at  the  time  and  place 
designated  by  the  board ;  and  shall  at  such  meetings  devote 
himself  to  the  object  of  collecting  information  with  respect  to 
the  condition  of  the  public  schools  of  such  county,  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  duties  of  their  office  by  members  of  the  school 
committees  of  all  the  cities  and  towns,  and  the  circumstances 
of  the  several  school  districts  in  regard  to  teachers,  pupils, 
books,  apparatus,  and  methods  of  education,  with  a  view  to 
enabling  him  to  furnish  all  information  desired  for  the  report 
of  the  board  required  in  section  three. 

SECT.  7.  He  shall  send  the  blank  forms  of  inquiry,  the 
school  registers,  the  annual  report  of  the  board,  and  his  own 
annual  report,  to  the  clerks  of  the  several  cities  and  towns  as 
soon  as  may  be  after  they  are  ready  for  distribution. 


shall  give 
notice  and 
attend 
meetings  of 
teachers,  etc. 
1838,  159,  §1. 
1842,  42. 
G.  8.  34,  §  6. 


shall  send 
forms  and  re- 
ports to  town 
clerks,  etc. 
1850,41. 
G.  S.34,§  7. 


See  chapter  46,  section  12,  Public  Statutes. 


SALARY   OF    SECRETARY. 

Section  8  of  chapter  41  was  repealed  by  chapter  227  of  the 
Acts  of  1885  and  the  following  substituted  :  — 

Compensation  From  and  after  January  first,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  expenses  and  eighty-five,  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  education  shall 
1849,  215',  §§  2,  receive  an  annual  salary  of  three  thousand  dollars,  and  also 

four  hundred  dollars  in  full  compensation  for  travelling 
.  34,  §  8.  expenses,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  half  of  the  school  fund  appli- 

cable  for  educational  expenses  ;  the  incidental  and  other  neces- 

gary  expenses   arising  in   his  office   shall  be  paid  out  of  the 

treasury  of  the  Commonwealth. 


1853  49 


^ 

1876J  no! 
885,  227. 


41.]  AGENTS    OF   BOARD.  15 

Since  the  election  of  the  first  secretary,  in  1837,  a  uniform 
system  of  schools  has  been  created,  a  comprehensive  plan  of 
collecting  accurate  school  statistics  has  been  established,  six 
State  normal  schools  for  the  professional  training  of  teachers 
have  been  organized,  and  methods  of  teaching  have  been 
improved.  In  addition  to  these  changes,  laws  have  been  passed 
requiring  the  use  of  a  uniform  method  of  selecting  and  examin- 
ing teachers,  establishing  uniform  courses  of  studies  for  the 
different  grades  of  schools,  and  a  minimum  time  of  attendance 
by  the  pupils ;  the  district  system  has  been  abolished ;  super- 
vision by  superintendents  has  been  introduced  and  quite  gen- 
erally adopted  ;  and  there  has  been  awakened  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  a  deeper  and  more  general  interest  in  popular  edu- 
cation. 

AGENTS  OP  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 

SECT.  9.     The  board  may  appoint  one   or  more    suitable  Board  may 

agents  to  visit  the  several  cities  and  towns  for  the  purpose  of  aS"*o 

inquiring  into  the  condition  of  the  schools,  of  conferring  with  ™t|!k  in(iuiry' 

teachers  and  committees,  of  lecturing  upon  subjects  connected  !<es-  I™.*™- 

,    _  _  .  .  1\.68.  lool.ol. 

with  education,  and  in  general  of  giving  and  receiving  mfor-  ites.  1853,  is. 
mation  upon  such  subjects,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  secretary  S^s'.s^y2" 
might  do  if  he  were  present. 

The  authority  conferred  by  the  ninth  section  was  first  given 
to  the  Board  of  Education  in  1850,  and  renewed  in  1851,  1853 
and  1857.  The  commissioners  and  the  Legislature  charged 
with  the  revision  of  the  General  Statutes  saw  fit  to  give  to 
these  transitory  enactments  the  form  of  permanent  law. 

The  following  named  persons  have  served  the  State  as  agents 
of  the  Board  :  — 


Nathaniel  P.  Banks. 
Charles  W.  Upham. 
Samuel  S.  Greene. 
Rodolphus  B.  Hubbard. 
J.  T  Burrill. 
Charles  Northend. 
Horace  James. 
Henry  K.  Oliver. 
Daniel  Leach. 
Richard  Edwards. 
Alpheus  Crosby. 
A.  R  Pope. 


Cornelius  Walker. 
B  G.  North rop. 
Abner  J.  Phipps. 
George  A   \Vralton. 
Eli.  A.  Hubbard 
John  D   Philbrick. 
John  Kneel  and. 
George  II.  Martin 
John  T.  Prince.    ' 
Andrew  W   Edson 
Henry  T    Bailey 
G  T  Fletcher 


The  agents  at  the  present  time  are  Messrs.  Walton,  Martin, 
Prince,  Edson,  Baile}r  and  Fletoner. 


16 


BOARD   OF   EDUCATION. 


[Chap. 


Expenses  of 
board,  how 


paid. 

183 


1838,  55. 

G.  8.  34,  §10. 

Olerk. 

1849,  155,  §  1. 

G.  8.  34,  §  11. 


Board  to 


J87o°lo6. 


SECT.  10.  The  incidental  expenses  of  the  board,  and  the 
expenses  of  the  members  thereof  incurred  in  the  discharge  of 
their  official  duties,  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury. 

SECT.  11.  The  assistant  librarian  of  the  state  library  shall 
act  when  necessary  as  clerk  of  the  board. 

MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 
SECT.  12.    The  general  management  of  the  several  state 
normal   schools   shall    be  vested  in  the  board,  and  moneys 
appropriated  for  their  maintenance  may  be  expended  under  its 
direction. 


BOARDING  HOUSES  AT  THE  NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 
Chapter  384  of  the  Acts  of  1891  provides  :  — 

1.  The  boarding  houses  of  the  state  normal  schools  shall 
be  under  the  general  management  of  the  state  board  of  edu- 
cation. 

2.  The  accounts  of  the  boarding  houses  shall  be  kept  under 
the  direction  of  the  auditor  of  the  Commonwealth  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  chapter  eighty-seven  of  the  acts 
of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-seven. 

RETURNS  OF  PRIVATE  AND  OTHER  EDUCATIONAL 
INSTITUTIONS. 


•Statistics  re- 
quired  of  offi- 
-cers  of  schools 
and  others 
respecting 
pupils,  in- 
struction, etc. 
1867, 123,  §  1. 


blanks  for, 
to  be  pre- 
pared. 

1867,  123,  §2. 
U.S.  Rev.  St., 
§  516. 


Institutions 
forinstruction 
•of  deaf,  dumb 
and  blind  to 
report  to  the 
board. 
1875, 118. 


SECT.  13.  The  trustees,  officers,  or  persons  in  charge  of 
all  literary,  scientific,  or  professional  institutions  of  learning, 
incorporated,  supported,  or  aided  by  the  commonwealth  ;  of 
all  reform  schools,  almshouses,  or  private  educational  institu- 
tions ;  and  all  agents,  guardians,  or  treasurers,  to  wrhom  appro- 
priations are  made  by  general  statute  or  special  resolve  for  the 
support  of  schools  among  Indians,  shall,  on  or  before  the  first 
day  of  June  in  each  year,  make  a  report  in  writing  to  the 
board,  at  the  office  of  the  secretary,  of  such  statistics  as  the 
board  shall  prescribe,  relating  to  the  number  of  pupils  and 
instructors,  courses  of  study,  cost  of  tuition,  and  the  general 
condition  of  the  institution  or  school  under  their  charge. 

SECT.  14.  The  board  shall  prepare  blank  forms  of  inquiry 
for  such  statistics,  and  shall  send  the  same  to  every  such  insti- 
tution or  school  on  or  before  the  tenth  day  of  May  in  each 
year.  In  preparing  said  forms,  reference  shall  be  had  to  the 
requirements  of  the  bureau  of  education,  created  by  the  gen- 
eral government. 

EDUCATION  OF  THE  DEAF  AND  DUMB. 
SECT.  15.  Every  institution  for  the  instruction  of  the  deaf, 
dumb,  and  blind,  when  aided  by  a  grant  of  money  from  the 
state  treasury,  shall  annually  make  to  the  board  such  a  report 
as  is  required,  by  sections  sixteen  and  seventeen  of  chapter 
seventy-nine,  of  other  private  institutions  so  aided. 


41.]  DEAF  AND   DUMB.  17 

SECT.  16.  [Section  16  of  the  public  statutes  is  repealed  by 
•chapter  239  of  the  Acts  of  the  year  1888,  and  the  following 
substituted]  :  — 

Upon  the  request  of  the  parents  or  guardians  and  with  the 
approval  of  the  state  board  of  education,  the  governor  may 
send  such  deaf  mutes  or  deaf  children  as  he  may  deem  fit 
subjects  for  education,  for  a  term  not  exceeding  ten  years  in 
the  case  of  any  pupil,  to  the  American  asylum  at  Hartford  in 
the  state  of  Connecticut,  the  Clarke  Institution  for  Deaf  Mutes 
at  Northampton,  or  to  the  Horace  Mann  School  at  Boston,  or  to 
.any  other  school  for  deaf  mutes  in  the  commonwealth,  as  the 
parents  or  guardians  may  prefer ;  and  with  the  approval  of  the    With  the  ap- 
state  board  he  may  make  at  the  expense  of  the  commonwealth   board!  dL?6 
such  provision  for  the  care  and  education  of  children,  who  are   S^c™^6 
both  deaf  mutes  and  blind,  as  he  may  deem  expedient.     In  the   certain  insti- 
exercise  of  the  discretionary  power  conferred  by  this  act,  no    pub°ic8ex- 
distinction  shall  be  made  on  account  of  the  wealth  or  poverty   JSTsn. 
-of  the  parents  or  guardians  of  such  children ;  no  such  pupil    JjjjjjJ'  |g- 
:shali   be  withdrawn  from  such  institution  or  schools  except   isri.'soo.' 
with  the  consent  of  the  proper  authorities  thereof  or  of  the    ISSG,'  241! 
.governor ;  and  the  sums  necessary  for  the  instruction  and  sup-   HH'  HI' 
port  of  such  pupils  in  such  institutions  or  schools,  including  all 
travelling  expenses  of  such  pupils  attending  such  institutions 
or  schools,  whether  daily  or  otherwise,  shall  be  paid  by  the 
'Commonwealth :    provided,  however,  that  nothing  herein  con- 
tained shall  be  held  to  prevent  the  voluntary  payment  of  the 
whole  or  any  part  of  such  sums  by  the  parents  or  guardians 
of  such  pupils. 

Chapter  226  of  the  Acts  of  1889  provides  that, 

Upon  the  request  of  the  parents  or  guardians,  and  with  the 
approval  of  the  state  board  of  education,  the  governor  may 
continue  the  schooling  of  meritorious  deaf  mutes  or  deaf 
children  of  capacity  and  promise,  beyond  the  limitation  of  ten 
years,  when  such  pupils  are  properly  recommended  therefor 
by  the  principal  or  other  chief  officer  of  the  school  of  which 
they  are  members. 

SECT.  17.    The  board  shall  direct  and  supervise  the  educa-   Board  to  su- 
tion  of  all  such  pupils,  and  shall  set  forth  in  its  annual  report   educatton,eir 
the  number  of  pupils  so  instructed,  the  cost  of  their  instruction   g"^^^}^4 
and  support,  the  manner  in  which  the  money  appropriated  by   thejsame,  etc. 
the  commonwealth  therefor  has  been  expended,  and  such  other    isss',  us!    * 
information  as  it  deems  important  to  be  laid  before  the  general 
court. 

Pupils  are  now  sent  under  the  above  sections  to  the 
Horace  Mann  School  for  the  Deaf  in  Boston,  the  Clarke 
Institution  at  Northampton  and  the  American  Asylum  at 
Hartford,  Conn. 


18  BOARD   OF   EDUCATION.  [Chap. 


»          EDUCATION  OF  THE  BLIND. 

Chapter  118  of  the  Acts  of  1885  provides  that  the  Board  of 
Education  shall  have  the  same  supervision  over  the  admission, 
and  instruction  of  pupils  in  the  Perkins  Institution  and  Massa- 
chusetts School  for  the  Blind  that  it  now  exercises  over  the 
instruction  of  deaf  mutes  and  deaf  children  under  sections  16 
and  17  of  chapter  41  of  the  Public  Statutes. 

EDUCATION  OF  THE  FEEBLE-MINDED. 

Section  3  of  chapter  298  of  the  Acts  of  1886  provides  that 
the  Massachusetts  School  for  the  Feeble-Minded  shall  gratui- 
tously receive,  maintain  and  educate  in  the  school  department 
such  indigent  feeble-minded  persons  from  this  Commonwealth 
as  shall  be  designated  by  the  governor  upon  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Education. 

Section  9  of  the  same  act  provides  that  the  trustees  of  the 
Massachusetts  School  for  the  Feeble-Minded  shall  annually 
prepare  and  send  to  the  Board  of  Education  a  written  or 
printed  report  of  its  proceedings,  income  and  expenditures, 
properly  classified,  for  the  year  ending  on  the  thirtieth  day  of 
September,  stating  the  sum  appropriated  by  the  Common- 
wealth, the  sum  expended  under  said  appropriation,  the  whole 
number  and  the  average  number  of  inmates,  the  number  and 
salaries  of  officers  and  persons  employed,  and  such  other  infor- 
mation as  the  Board  may  require,  and  shall  also  once  in  three 
months  make  a  report  to  said  Board  stating  the  number  of 
inmates  received  and  the  number  discharged  during  the  pre- 
ceding three  months,  also  the  whole  number  then  in  the 
institution  and  the  number  of  beneficiaries  supported  by  the 
Commonwealth,  together  with  such  other  information  as  the 
Board  may  require. 

Blanks  for  application  for  admission  to  these  several  institu- 
tions will  be  supplied,  on  request,  by  the  secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Education. 


42.]  TEACHERS'  INSTITUTES.  19 


CHAPTER    42. 
ACKERS'    INSTITUTES  AND   ASSOCIATIONS. 


1.  Board  of  education  to  arrange  for 
meeting  of  teachers'  institutes. 

2.  Expenses  of  meetings,  how  paid. 


SECTION 

4.  County  teachers'  associations  to.  re- 
ceive twenty-five  dollars  for  annual 
meetings. 


3.  Board  to  regulate  length  of  session          5'  Massachusetts     Teachers'    Associa- 
and  expense.  tion  to  receive  tnree  hundred  dollars 

annually. 

SECTION  1.    When  the  board  of  education  is  satisfied  that  ^ftauct^rs^in- 

fifty  teachers  of  public  schools  desire  to  unite  in  forming;  a  ings  of.' 

teachers'  institute,  it  shall,  by  a  committee  or  by  its  secretary,  jg^j  JJ;  *  *' 

or  in  case  of  his  inability  by  such  person  as  it  may  delegate,  JJ4^«  632_-     l 
appoint  and  give  notice  of  a  time  and  place  for  such  meeting, 
and  make  suitable  arrangements  therefor. 

SECT.  2.      To  defray  the  necessary  expenses  and  charges,      expenses  of, 

and  to  procure  teachers  and  lecturers  for  such  institutes,  a  sum  1846,  a?,'  §§  2,3. 

not  exceeding  three  thousand  dollars  may  annually  be  paid  out  J854'  300' §§  3' 

of  that  half  of  the  income  of  the  school  fund  not  apportioned  {*esg- 138.50-  ^5- 

for  distribution  to  cities  and  towns.  1873, 292,  §  i. 

SECT.  3.     The  board  may  determine  the  length   of    time      length  of 

during  which  a  teachers1  institute  shall  remain  in  session,  and  and  expense. 

1846,  99  §  2. 

what  portion,  not  exceeding  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  of  1849,  62'. 
the  sum  provided  for  in  the  preceding  section,  shall  be  appro-   <j?a'.^'§  3. 
priated  to  meet  the  expenses  of  such  institute. 

Previous  to  the  act  of  1846  four  institutes  were  held,  at  the 
expense  of  a  private  individual,  that  the  experiment  might  be 
tried  and  their  value  determined.  The  next  year  Teachers' 
Institutes  became  a  permanent  institution,  and  appropriations 
have  been  made  year  by  year  for  their  support.  They  furnish 
the  teachers  with  the  occasion  of  comparing  their  methods  of 
teaching,  of  studying  improved  methods,  of  breaking  away 
for  a  little  while  from  their  round  of  daily  duties,  of  coming 
into  companionship  and  sympathy  with  others  of  their  own 
profession,  and  of  returning  home  with  higher  notions  and 
better  purposes. 

Since  the  institutes  were  established  they  have  been  held  in 
two  hundred  and  forty-five  towns,  and  in  some  cases  several 
have  been  held  in  the  same  town,  as  will  appear  from  the  fol- 
lowing list :  — 


Abington,  1880. 

Acton,  1861,  1889. 

Adams,  1848,  1855,  '58,  75,  '89,  '91. 


Amherst,  1852,  1877. 
Amesbury,  1863. 
Andover,  1846,  1866. 


20 


TEACHERS'   INSTITUTES. 


[Chap. 


Arlington,  1888. 

Ashburnham,  1855,  1880,  1888. 

Ashby,  1882. 

Ashfield,  1882. 

Ashland,  1878. 

Athol,  1848,  1854,  1868,  1880,  1887. 

Attleborough,  1849,  '51,  '62,  '73,  '84, 

'90. 

Ayer,  1871,  1879,  1887. 
Barnstable,  1851,   1857,   1872    (Hy- 

annis),  1849,  1856,  1878. 
Barre,  1854,  1872, 1882,  1888. 
Becket,  1865, 1876,  1887. 
Bedford,  1857,  1880. 
Belchertown,  1868,  1875. 
Bellinghara,  1884. 
Bernardston,  1858,  1872,  1882. 
Beverly,  1870,  1888. 
Billerica,  1859,  1868,  1882. 
Blackstone,  1851,  1870. 
Blandford,  1884. 
Boston,  1852. 
Bourne,  1884. 
Bradford,  1877. 
Braintree,  1884. 
Brewster,  1850,  1855,  1881. 
Bridgewater,  1845,  1855,  1863. 
Brimfield,  1860, 1876,  1881. 
Brockton,  1886,  1891. 
Brookfield,  1857. 
Cambridge,  1852. 

Charlemont,  1847,  1870,  1779,  1891. 
Charlestown,  1852. 
Charlton,  1884. 
Chatham,  1845,  1860, 1884. 
Chelsea,  1855. 
Cheshire,  1874,  1884. 
Chester,  1872. 
Chicopee,  1852,  1882. 
Clinton,  1866,  1876,  1881. 
Cohasset,  1874,  1888. 
Colrain,  1883. 
Concord,  1847,  1877. 
Conway,  1853,  1864,  1883. 
Cottage  City,  1886. 
Cummington,  1862,  1873,  1890. 
Dalton,  1888. 
Dana,  1870. 
Danvers,  1883 


Dartmouth,  1864,  1888,  1890. 

Dedham,  1859. 

Deerfield,  1852,  1884,  1890. 

Dennis,  East,  1864. 

Dennis,  South,  1867. 

Dennis,  West,  1883. 

Dighton,  1883. 

Dudley,  1865,  1883. 

East  Bridgewater,  1884. 

Easthampton,  1863,  1884. 

Eastham,  1879. 

Easton,  North,  1867. 

Edgartown,  1848,  1861,  1879V  1885. 

Egremont,  1883. 

Enfield,  1880,  1890. 

Everett,  1883. 

Fairhaven,  1858,  1881, 

Fall  River,  1852,  1866,  1882,  1891. 

Falmouth,  1850,  '61,  '68,  '69,  '82. 

Fitchburg,  1845,  '50,  '62,  '75,  '80,  '90. 

Florida,  1890. 

Foxborough,  1857,  1881. 

Framingham,  1850,  1857,  1882. 

Franklin,  1854,  1877,  1889. 

Gardner,  South,  1858,  1889. 

Georgetown,  1889. 

Gloucester,  1872,  1878,  1891. 

Goshen,  1886. 

Grafton,  1846,  1889. 

Granby,  1882. 

Granville,  1884,  1890. 

Great  Barrington,  1847,  1859,  1891. 

Greenfield,  1849,  1863,  1889. 

Groton,  1849,  1856. 

Hadley,  1850,  1864,  1884. 

Hancock,  1883. 

Hanover,  1890. 

Hanson,  1885. 

Hardwick,  1859,  1879,  1890. 

Harvard,  1883. 

Harwich,  1846,  1877,  1886. 

Hatfield,  1865,  1873. 

Haverhill,  1853,  1858,  1869,  1884. 

Hawley,  1884. 

Hingham,  1868,  1884. 

Hinsdale,  1869. 

Holbrook,  1883. 

Holliston,  1852. 

Holyoke,  1862,  1877,  1891. 


42.] 


TEACHERS'   INSTITUTES. 


21 


Hopkinton,  1854,  1888. 

Hubbardston,  1849,  1860,  1881. 

Hudson,  1880. 

Huntington,  1889. 

Hyde  Park,  1891. 

Ipswich,  1874,  1884,  1887. 

Kingston,  1856,  1889. 

Lancaster,  1854,  1884. 

Lanesborough,  1879,  1884. 

Lawrence,  1851,  1862,  1878,  1890. 

Lee,  1846,  1854,  1864,  1882. 

Leicester,  1863. 

Lenox,  1850,  1884. 

Leominster,  1852,  1857,  1874,  1882. 

Leverett,  1882. 

Lincoln,  1884. 

Littleton,  1855. 

Longmeadow,  1863,  1890. 

Lowell,  1852,  1867 

Ludlow,  1879. 

Lunenburg,  1853, 1883. 

Maiden,  1853 

Manchester,  1883. 

Mansfield,  1854,  1879,  1888. 

Marblehead,  1883. 

Marlborough,  1856,  1867,  1871. 

Marshfield,  1879. 

Mattapoisett,  1889. 

Maynard,  1873. 

Medfield,  1882. 

Medford,  1884. 

Medway,  1850,  1871,  1880,  1888. 

Medway,  West,  1863. 

Melrose,  1883. 

Mendon,  1885. 

Merrimac,  1881, 

Middleborough,  1853,  1877,  1891. 

Middlefield,  1883. 

Milford,  1850,  1858,  1861. 

Millbury,  1853,  1883. 

Monson?  1850,  1870,  1889. 

Montague,  1855,  1870,  1880. 

Monterey,  1879,  1888. 

Nantucket,  1853,  1874,  1891. 

Natick,  1853,  1864,  1870,  1880. 

Needham,  1867,  1890. 

New  Bedford,  1853. 

Newburyport,  1854,  1890. 

New  Marlborough,  1866. 


New  Salem,  1846,  1873,  1889. 

Newton,  1851,  1864,  1889. 

North  Adams,  1869,  1881. 

Northampton,  1857, 1869,  1885, 1891. 

Northborough,  1851, 1860, 1884, 1890. 

Northbridge,  1881,  1888. 

North  Bridge  water,  1868 

North  Brookfield,  1852,  '59,  '86,  '91. 

North  Easton,  1889. 

Northfield,  1871,  1881. 

Norton,  1857,  1891. 

Norwood,  1889. 

Orange,  1866,  1875,  1886. 

Orleans,  1853,  1861,  1875,  1888. 

Otis,  1883. 

Oxford,  1853,  1888. 

Palmer,  1884. 

Peabody,  1889. 

Pepperell,  1850,  1866,  1881. 

Peru,  1878. 

Petersham,  1851,  1876. 

Pittsfield,  1845,  '51,  '54,  '57,  71,  '82. 

Plainfield,  1880 

Plymouth,  1850,  1881. 

Plympton,  1884. 

Prescott,  1883. 

Princeton,  1882,  1890. 

Provincetown,  1858,  1869,  1881,  '91. 

Quincy,  1847,  1889. 

Randolph,  1854,  1865,  1890. 

Raynham,  1X83. 

Reading,  1882. 

Rehoboth,  1880,  1889. 

Rochester,  1884. 

Rockland,  1§81. 

Rockport,  1882. 

Rowe,  1889. 

Roxbury,  1852,  1854. 

Royal  ston,  1851. 

Rutland,  1855,  1878. 

Salem,  1854,  1884,  1891. 

Salisbury,  1873,  1882. 

Sandisfield,  1874. 

Sandwich,  1849,  1871,  1888. 

Saugus,  1881. 

Scituate,  1883. 

Sharon,  1883. 

Sheffield,  1852,  1861,  1876,  1884. 

Shelburne  Falls,  1861, '68, 76,  '81, '86. 


22 


TEACHERS'   ASSOCIATIONS. 


[Chap. 


Sherborn,  1884. 

Shirley,  1890. 

Shrewsbury,  1855. 

Somerset,  1882. 

Somerville,  1890. 

Southampton,  1879. 

Southborough,  1886. 

Southbridge,  1851,  1872,  1888. 

South  Hadley,  1867. 

Springfield,  1884. 

Stoneharn,  1890. 

Stoughton,  1851,  1866,  1879. 

Spencer,  1881,  1888. 

Sunderland,  1848. 

Swampscott,  1865,  1884. 

Taunton,  1846,  1865,  1884. 

Templeton,  1853,  1874,  1889. 

Tewksbury,  1890. 

Tisbury,  1869,  1883, 1884. 

Townsend,  1859. 

Truro,  1857. 

Tyngsborough,  1886. 

Tyringham,  1881. 

Uxbridge,  1862,  1878, 1882. 

Wakefield,  1872. 

Waltham,  1860,  1890. 

Ware,  1851,  1856,  1864,  1873,  1884. 


Wareham,  1883. 

Warren,  1888. 

Wayland,  1883. 

Webster,  1859,  1884. 

Wellfleet,  1859,  1871. 

Westborough,  1858,  1877. 

West  Brookfield,  1877. 

West  Boylston,  1880,  1891. 

Westfield,  1855,  1891. 

Westford,  1863,  1886,  1890. 

WestNewbury,  1871. 

Westport,  1883, 1888. 

West  Stockbridge,  1873. 

Weymouth,  1861,  1878. 

Whately,  1878. 

Whitman,  1890. 

Wilbraham,  1861,  1881. 

Williamsburg,  1856,  1881. 

Williamstown,  1862,  1872. 

Winchendon,  1856,  '67,  '78,  '85,  '86. 

Winchester,  1881. 

Windsor,  1883. 

Woburn,  1852. 

Worcester,  1852,  1854. 

Worthington,  1882. 

Wrentham,  1852. 

Yarmouth,  1855,  1862,  1865,  1889. 


STATE  AND  COUNTY  TEACHERS'  ASSOCIATIONS 
SECT.  4.  When  a  county  association  of  teachers  and  others 
holds  an  annual  meeting  of  not  less  than  one  day,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  promoting  the  interests  of  public  schools,  it 
shall  receive  twenty-five  dollars  from  the  commonwealth  upon 
filing  with  the  governor  a  certificate,  under  oath,  of  its  presi- 
dent and  secretary  that  a  meeting  has  been  so  held. 

SECT.  5.*  Subject  to  the  approval  of  the  board  of  education, 
Teachers'  As-  there  shall  annually  be  allowed  and  paid,  out  of  that  half  of 
the  income  of  the  school  fund  not  apportioned  for  distribution 
to  cities  and  towns,  to  the  president  or  treasurer  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Teachers'  Association,  three  hundred  dollars,  to  be 
applied  to  the  purposes  of  said  association. 

[The  Dukes  County  Association,  by  an  Act  of  the  year  1806 
amended  by  Act  of  1872,  is  allowed  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars.] 

State  aid  to  county  associations  of  teachers  was  first  granted 
in  1848.  There  are  now  eleven  of  these  associations,  and  the 
sum  of  three  hundred  dollars  is  annually  appropriated  for  their 
support.  Although  these  institutions  are  not  under  the  control 
of  the  State  authorities,  they  co-operate  with  the  Teachers'  In- 
stitutes in  accomplishing  the  same  objects. 


County  teach- 
ers' associa- 
tions to  re- 
ceive twenty- 
five  dollars 
for  annual 
meetings. 
1848,  301. 
1864,  58,  §§1,2. 
1880,  93. 
Massachu- 
setts 


sociation  to 
receive  three 
hundred  dol- 
lars annually 
1846,  213. 
Res.  1880,  30. 


43.] 


SCHOOL  FUNDS. 


23 


CHAPTER  43. 
OF  THE   SCHOOL  FUNDS. 


MASSACHUSETTS  SCHOOL  FUND. 
SECTION 

1.  School  fund,  how  invested.     Income 
only  to  be  used. 

2.  Commissioners  to  manage  same,  and 
report  to  general  court. 

3.  Distribution  of  one-half  of   income 
among  towns,  etc.     Appropriations 
for  educational  purposes  to  be  paid 
from  other  half.    Balance  to  be  added 
to  principal. 


SECTION 

4.  Income,  at  what  time  to  be  appor- 
tioned and  paid. 

5.  Distribution    of    income    not    to    be 
made  to  towns,  etc.,  which  do  not 
comply  with  law. 

6.  Income  received  by  towns,  etc.,  how 
applied. 

TODD   NORMAL    SCHOOL   FUND. 

9.  Todd  fund,  how  applied. 


MASSACHUSETTS  SCHOOL  FUND. 

SECTION  1.    The  present  school  fund  of  the  commonwealth, 
together  with  such  additions  as  may  be  made  thereto,  shall   income  only 
constitute  a  permanent  fund,  to  be  called  the  "  Massachusetts   1334,  ?69e  ' 
School  Fund  ;  "  the  principal  of  which  shall  not  be  diminished,   Jfc8'  n»  §§  13> 
and  the  income  of  which,  including  the  interest  on  notes  and   j|JJ»  ®M. 
bonds  taken  for  sales  of  Maine  lands  and  belonging;  to  said         * 


fund,  shall  be  appropriated  as  hereinafter  provided. 


1859  154 

G-   8   S6   61 

1866,  53.' 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FUND. 

•The  Massachusetts  School  Fund  was  established  by  the  Leg- 
islative Acts  of  1834,  chapter  169,  providing  that  "  all  moneys 
in  the  treasury  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands  in  the  State  of 
Maine,  and  from  the  claims  of  the  State  on  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  for  military  services,  and  not  otherwise 
appropriated,  together  with  fifty  per  centum  of  all  moneys 
thereafter  to  be  received  from  the  sale  of  lands  in  Maine,  shall 
be  appropriated  to  constitute  a  permanent  fund  for  the  aid  and 
encouragement  of  common  schools,  provided  that  said  fund 
.shall  not  exceed  one  million  dollars." 

In  1854  (chapter  300)  an  important  act  was  passed,  providing 
for  the  increase  of  the  fund  by  the  transfer  « '  of  such  a  number 
of  the  shares  held  by  the  Commonwealth  in  the  Western  Rail- 
road Corporation,  as  will,  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  dollars  a 
share,  increase  the  principal  of  said  fund  to  the  amount  of  one 
million  five  hundred  dollars." 

Again,  by  chapter  154  of  the  Acts  of  1859,  it  was  provided  in 
section  3,  that  "  all  the  avails  of  the  moiety  of  the  sales  of  public 


24  SCHOOL   FUNDS.  [Chap/ 

lands  which  by  the  provisions  of  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the 
resolves  of  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
inure  immediately  to  the  use  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  use- 
of  which  is  not  otherwise  provided  for  in  this  act,  shall  be 
added  to  the  principal  of  the  Massachusetts  School  Fund." 
Provision  was  thus  made  for  the  indefinite  enlargement  of  the 
amount  which  the  common  schools  would  annually  receive  from 
the  treasury  of  the  State.  Had  this  legislation  been  permitted 
to  stand,  the  school  fund  would  have  been  increased  to  the  sum 
of  five  million  of  dollars,  and  thus  the  Commonwealth  would 
have  stood  foremost  in  the  Union  in  the  provisions  for  the  free 
and  impartial  education  of  her  children. 

Up  to  this  period  the  legislation  of  the  State  had  been  liberal 
and  generous  to  the  common  schools,  and  to  the  general  educa- 
tional interests  of  the  Commonwealth. 

The  first  adverse  act  was  in  1861,  when  by  the  gift  of  land  in 
the  Back  Bay  to  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  and 
the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  the  sum  of  $232,790  was 
diverted  from  the  fund,  —  the  fund  which  had  been  solemnly 
set  apart  and  pledged  for  the  support  of  the  schools  and  for 
general  educational  purposes.  But  under  the  exigency  of  the 
case,  and  the  necessity  of  providing  means  for  the  payment  of 
the  large  sums  raised  by  the  State  for  recruiting  and  sending 
forward  troops,  in  1864,  chapter  313,  the  Legislature  created 
a  fund  by  the  issue  of  State  scrip,  not  exceeding  ten  million 
dollars,  to  be  called  the  Massachusetts  Bounty  Fund,  and 
created  a  sinking  fund  for  the  payment.  Towards  this  sinking 
fund  the  Legislature  appropriated  all  the  receipts  from  the  sale  of 
Back  Bay  lands,  less  the  expense  of  commissioners  and  of  filling 
and  preparing  the  lands  for  sale,  including  the  portion  now  by 
law  made  payable  to  the  Massachusetts  School  Fund  as  soon  as 
said  school  fund  shall  have  reached  the  sum  of  $2,000,000. 
The  whole  amount  paid  under  this  statute  into  the  school  fund 
was  $456,930.06,  "  or  less  than  fifteen  percent,  of  the  estimated 
profits  of  the  enterprise." 

The  fund  was  increased  in  the  year  1891  by  the  United 
States  war  claims  collected,  amounting  to  $12,043.75,  and 
by  United  States  direct  tax  of  1861,  recently  refunded, 
$696,107.88,  a  total  of  $708,151.63,  making  the  present  fund 
$3,665,761.88.  The  Massachusetts  school  fund  thus  enlarged 


43.]  COMMISSIONERS   OF  FUND.  25 

will  produce  an  income  that  will  materially  aid  the  small  towns 
to  which  it  is  now  limited,  in  supporting  their  public  schools. 

The  method  of  distribution  of  the  income  of  this  fund  was 
first  provided  for  by  the  Legislature  of  1835,  which  method  was 
amended  by  the  Legislature  of  1839,  and  subsequently  in  the 
years  1840,  1841,  1849,  1854,  1866,  1874,  1884  and  1891. 

Under  the  fourth  section  of  this  chapter  the  money  distrib- 
uted by  the  State  is  held  by  the  treasurers  of  the  respective 
towns  subject  to  the  order  of  the  school  committee  of  each 
town.  Three-fourths  of  the  income  must  be  applied  by  the 
committees  to  the  support  of  schools,  and  the  whole  may  be. 
The  income  received  from  the  State  is  not  subject  to  a  vote  of 
the  town,  nor  is  it  necessarily  divided  in  the  same  manner  as 
money  raised  by  local  taxation.  Under  this  section  it  becomes 
the  duty  of  each  town  treasurer  to  open  an  account  with  the 
school  committee,  and  to  hold  the  funds  received  from  the  State 
subject  to  their  order. 

The  establishment  of  the  school  fund  in  connection  with  the 
organization  of  the  Board  of  Education  has  wrought  a  refor- 
mation in  the  character  of  the  public  schools.  Although  it  was 
not  the  purpose  of  the  Legislature  in  establishing  the  fund  to 
relieve  the  towns  from  the  support  of  their  schools,  it  was  the 
purpose  to  furnish  aid  and  encouragement.  By  furnishing  this 
material  aid  the  State  established  a  necessary  relation  between 
its  own  control  and  the  control  of  the  towns  over  the  manage- 
ment of  the  public  schools. 

With  the  fund  it  is  possible  to  obtain  accurate  and  full  re- 
turns, and  to  communicate  to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  people 
all  the  material  facts  relating  to  the  condition  of  the  public 
schools.  It  enables  the  authorities  to  execute  the  school  laws, 
and  to  establish  a  uniform  system  of  schools  throughout  the 
Commonwealth.  It  greatly  aids  the  towns  in  supporting  such 
schools  as  the  statute  requires  the  towns  to  maintain. 

COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  FUND 

SECT.  2.     The  secretary  of  the  board  of  education  and  the   Commission- 
treasurer  shall  be  commissioners,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
invest  and  manage  the  fund,  and  report  annually  to  the  general 
court  the  condition  and  income  thereof.    All  new  investments    1866,53. 
of  the  fund,  or  of  any  part  of  the  same,  shall  be  made  with  the 
approval  of  the  governor  and  council. 


26  SCHOOL   FUNDS.  [Chap. 

Chapter  335  of  the  Acts  of  1890  provides  as  follows  :  - 

SECTION  1.  Any  moneys  which  may  hereafter  be  received 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Commonwealth  from  the  general  gov- 
ernment, the  disposition  of  which  is  not  otherwise  provided 
for,  shall  be  paid  into  the  Massachusetts  school  fund. 

SECT.  2.  In  investing  the  Massachusetts  school  fund  there 
may  be  paid  from  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise 
appropriated  the  premiums  on  any  securities  which  may  be 
purchased  for  said  fund  :  provided,  that  the  aggregate  amount 
so  paid  shall  not  in  any  one  year  exceed  the  sum  of  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INCOME  or  THE  FUND. 

Section  3  was  repealed  by  chapter  22  of  the  Acts  of  1884 
and  this  was  repealed  by  chapter  177  of  the  Acts  of  1891,  and 
the  following,  under  which  the  distribution  is  now  made,  was 
substituted  therefor :  — 


Distribution          SECTION  1.     One-half  of  the  annual  income  of  the  school 

of  one-half  of 

income  among   fund  of  the  Commonwealth  shall  be  apportioned  and  distrib- 

Appropria-       uted,  without  a  specific  appropriation,  for  the  support  of  pub- 


^c  scno°ls»  an(l  m  ^e  manner  following,  to  wit  :  —  Every  town 
poses  paid         complying  with  all  laws  in  force  relating  to  the  distribution  of 

from  other  ..  . 

half.  Balance  said  income  and  whose  valuation  of  real  and  personal  estate, 
p°rincu>a??d  t  °  as  shown  by  the  last  preceding  assessors  valuation  thereof, 
1874,  348,  §§  l,  doeg  not  excee(j  one-half  million  dollars,  shall  annually  receive 
1884,  22.  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  ;  every  such  town  whose 

valuation  is  more  than  one-half  million  dollars  and  does  not 
exceed  one  million  dollars,  shall  receive  two  hundred  dollars  ; 
and  every  such  town  whose  valuation  is  more  than  one  million 
dollars  and  does  not  exceed  two  million  dollars,  shall  receive 
one  hundred  dollars  ;  and  every  such  town  whose  valuation  is 
more  than  two  million  dollars  and  does  not  exceed  three  mil- 
lion dollars,  shall  receive  fifty  dollars.  The  remainder  of  said 
half  shall  be  distributed  to  all  towns  whose  valuation  does  not 
exceed  three  million  dollars  and  whose  annual  tax  rate  for  the 
support  of  public  schools  is  not  less  than  one-sixth  of  their 
whole  tax  rate  for  the  year,  as  follows  :  —  Every  town  whose 
public  school  tax  is  not  less  than  one-third  of  its  whole  tax 
shall  receive  a  proportion  of  said  remainder  expressed  by  one- 
third  ;  every  such  town  whose  school  tax  is  not  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  its  whole  tax  shall  receive  a  proportion  expressed  by 
one-fourth  ;  every  such  town  whose  school  tax  is  not  less  than 
one-fifth  of  its  whole  tax  shall  receive  a  proportion  expressed 
by  one-fifth  ;  and  every  such  town  whose  school  tax  is  not  less 


43.]  INCOME   APPLIED.  27 

than  one-sixth  of  its  whole  tax  shall  receive  a  proportion 
expressed  by  one-sixth.  All  money  appropriated  for  other 
educational  purposes,  unless  otherwise  specially  provided,  shall 
be  paid  from  the  other  half  of  said  income.  If  the  income  in 
any  year  exceeds  such  appropriations  the  surplus  shall  be 
added  to  the  principal  of  said  fund. 

SECT.  4.     The  income  of  said  fund,  appropriated  to  the  sup-   income,  at 
port  of  public  schools,  which  has  accrued  on  the  thirty-first  ^e  apporf 
day  of  December  in  each  year,  shall  be  apportioned  by  the   tio°ed  and 
secretary  and  treasurer  in  the  manner  provided  in  the  preced-   &•  8.  36,  §  3. 
ing  section,  and  paid  over  by  the  treasurer  to  the  treasurers  of 
the  several  cities  and  towns  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  January 
thereafter. 

SECT.  5.    No  such  apportionment  and  distribution  shall  be   Distribution 
made  to  a  city  or  town  which  has  not  maintained  a  school  as    °0f  Je 


required  by  section  one  of  chapter  forty-four;   or  which,  if   towns,  etc.  , 

J  J  .  which  do  not 

containing  the  number  of  families  or  householders  required  by   comply  with 

section  two  of  said  chapter,  has  not  maintained,  for  at  least   1865,  142,  §  i. 

thirty-six  weeks  during  the  year,  exclusive  of  vacations,  a  high    }g®g'  ^34'  |  \' 

school  such  as  is  mentioned  therein  ;  or  which  has  not  made  the 

returns  required  by  sections  six  and  eight  of  chapter  forty-six, 

and  complied  with  the  laws  relating  to  truancy  ;  or  which  has 

not  raised  by  taxation  for  the  wages  and  board  of  teachers, 

fuel  for  the  schools,  and  care  of  fires  and  school-rooms  during 

the  school  year  embraced  in  the  last  annual  returns,  a  sum  not 

less  than  three  dollars  for  each  person  between  the  ages  of  five 

and  fifteen  years  belonging  to  such  city  or  town  on  the  first 

day  of  May  of  said  school  year. 


How  THE  INCOME  SHALL  BE  APPLIED. 

SECT    6.     The  income  of  said  fund  received  by  the  several   income  re- 
cities  and  towns  shall  be  applied  by  the   school   committees   towns,  etc., 
thereof  to  the  support  of  the  public  schools  therein ;  but  said   (jjg*!^  §C4.' 
committees  may,  if  they  see  fit,  appropriate  therefrom  any 
sum,  not  exceeding  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  same,  to  the 
purchase  of  books  of  reference,  maps,  and  apparatus  for  the 
use  of  said  schools. 

TODD  NORMAL  SCHOOL  FUND. 

SECT.  9     The  income  of  the  Todd  fund  shall  be  paid  to  the  Todd  fund, 

treasurer  of  the  board  of  education,  to  be  applied  by  said  board  {^fJe^6?.* 

to  specific  objects,  in  connection  with  the  normal  schools,  not  186°-  83>  §  1< 
provided  for  by  legislative  appropriation. 

See  chap.  41,  sect.  2. 


28 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


[Chap, 


CHAPTER   44. 


OF  THE    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 
SECTION 

1.  Each  town  to  have  school  six  months 
in  a  year.    Branches  to  bs  taught. 

2.  High  school   in  towns   of   five  hun- 
dred   families.      Branches     taught. 
Duration  of  school.    Towns  of  four 
thousand  inhabitants. 

3.  High    school    districts    in    adjacent 
towns,  how  established.   • 

4.  Committee  for  union  high  schools. 

5.  to    determine    location   of   school- 
house. 

6.  Expenses  apportioned. 

7.  Industrial  and  mechanical  drawing  to 
be  taught  free  to  persons  over  fifteen, 
etc. 

8.  Industrial  schools ;  expense  of  same ; 
no  scholar  to  be  compelled  to  study  a 
trade,  unless,  etc. 

9.  Nautical  schools 

10.  Union  schools  may  be  established  by 
two  or  more  towns. 

11.  how  located,  managed,  supported, 
etc. 

12.  Schools  for  those  over  twelve  years 
of  age. 

13.  under  the  superintendence  of  school 
committee. 

14.  Female  assistants. 

15.  Duty  of  instructors  in  colleges,  etc. 

16.  of  ministers  and  town  officers. 

17.  Towns  to  raise  money  for  schools. 

18.  Funds  of  corporations   for  support- 
ing schools  not  affected,  etc. 

19.  Forfeiture  for  neglect  to  raise  money, 
etc. 

20.  three-fourths  of,  to  be  appropriated 
to  schools. 

21.  School  committee,  how  chosen.  Num- 
ber ;  term  of  service.    Women  eligible. 

22.  Vacancies,  how  filled. 

23.  When  whole  committee  decline,  new 
committee  how  elected. 

24.  Term    of    service    of    person    filling 
vacancy. 

25.  On    election  of   new  board,  certain 
duties  of  old  to  continue. 

26.  Committee,  how  increased  or  dimin- 
ished. 

27.  records  of ;  secretary. 

28.  to  contract  with  teachers,  unless,  etc. 


SECTION 

29.  Instructor  to  receive  and  file  certifi- 
cate.    When  and  how  paid. 

30.  may  be  dismissed.    Compensation 
to  cease. 

31.  Examinations    and  visits    by  school 
committee ;  purpose  of  visits. 

32.  Bible  to  be  read  in  schools ;  sectarian 
books  excluded. 

33.  School    committee    to    direct    what 
books  shall   be  used,  and  prescribe 
course  of  studies. 

34.  may  change  books  by  two-thirds 
vote  of  whole  committee. 

35.  When  change  is  made,  new  books  to 
be  furnished  at  expense  of  town,  etc. 

36.  Committee  to  procure  books,  appa- 
ratus, etc. 

37.  for  certain  scholars  at  expense  of 
town. 

38.  Expense  of  books  so  supplied  to  be 
taxed  to  parents,  etc. 

39.  If  parents  unable  to  pay,  tax  may  be 
omitted. 

40.  Text-books   and    stationery  may  be 
furnished  to  pupils  by  towns,  etc.,  by 
vote. 

41.  Duty  of  committee  where  school  is 
for  benefit  of  whole  town. 

42.  Compensation  of  committee. 

SUPERINTENDENT   OF   PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.' 

43.  Superintendent   of  schools,  appoint- 
ment, duties,  etc. 

44.  Towns  may  form  a  district  for  em- 
ployment of  superintendent. 

45.  Manner  of  appointment,  salary,  etc. 

SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

46.  Towns    not   districted    to    maintain 
school -houses,     etc.      Penalty     for 
neglect. 

47.  Location  of  school-houses. 

48.  Land  may  be  taken  for  school-house 
lots ;  damages,  etc. 

49.  Owner  of  land  may  have  jury.    Pro- 
ceedings.   Damages  and  costs . 

50.  Committee  of  town  not  districted  to 
have  charge  of  school-houses. 

51.  Provisions  of    chapter  to    apply  to 
cities,  except,  etc. 


44.]  PHYSIOLOGY   AND   HYGIENE.  29 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 
SECTION  1.    In  every  town  there  shall  be  kept,  for  at  least   Each  town  to 

J  have  school 

six  months  in  each  year,  at  the  expense  ot  said  town,  by  a   six  months  in 
teacher  or  teachers  of  competent  ability  and  good  morals,  a   Branches 
sufficient  number  of  schools  for  the  instruction   of   all   the   ^U§hto0  ,. 

tr.  o    oo,  5  1. 

children  who    may  legally   attend   public   school  therein,  in   1862, 7. 
orthography,  reading,  writing,  English  grammar,  geography,   i876,*3,  §'i. 
arithmetic,  drawing,  the  history  of  the  United  States,  and  good 
behavior.      Algebra,  vocal  music,  agriculture,  sewing,  physi- 
ology, and  hygiene  shall  be  taught,  by  lectures  or  otherwise, 
in  all  the  public  schools  in  which  the  school  committee  deem 
it  expedient. 

PURCHASE  AND  USE  or  HAND-TOOLS. 

This  section  is  amended  by  chapter  69  of  the  Acts  of  1884 
by  striking  out  the  words  "  and  hygiene,"  and  inserting 
instead  the  words  "  hygiene  and  the  elementary  use  of  hand- 
tools,"  and  in  any  city  or  town  where  such  tools  shall  be 
introduced,  they  shall  be  purchased  by  the  school  committee 
at  the  expense  of  such  city  or  town,  and  loaned  to  such 
pupils  as  may  be  allowed  to  use  them  free  of  charge,  subject 
to  such  rules  and  regulations  as  to  care  and  custody  as  the 
school  committee  may  prescribe. 


PHYSIOLOGY  AND  HYGIENE. 

Chapter  332  of  the  Acts  of  1885  provides  that  "  physiology 
and  hygiene,  which,  in  both  divisions  of  the  subject,  shall 
include  special  instruction  as  to  the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks, 
stimulants  and  narcotics  on  the  human  system,  shall  be  taught 
as  a  regular  branch  of  study  to  all  pupils  in  all  schools  sup- 
ported wholly  or  in  part  by  public  money,  except  special 
schools  maintained  solely  for  instruction  in  particular  branches, 
such  as  drawing,  mechanics,  art  and  like  studies.  Ail  acts  or 
parts  of  acts  relating  to  the  qualifications  of  teachers  in  the 
public  schools  shall  apply  to  the  branch  of  study  prescribed  in 
this  act,  and  all  penalties  now  fixed  for  neglect  to  provide 
instruction  in  the  branches  of  study  now  prescribed  by  law 
shall  apply  to  this  branch  of  study." 

By  the  term  4<  regular  branch,"  is  meant  one  that  is  included 
in  the  list  of  those  required  by  law  to  be  taught. 

Formerly  physiology  and  hygiene  were  optional  studies.     By 


30  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

the  act  of  1885  they  were   introduced    among   the    required 
branches. 

"  All  pupils  in  all  schools,"  are  all  pupils  in  the  primary,  in- 
termediate, grammar  and  high  schools  of  our  system.  The  law 
requires  physiology  and  hygiene  to  be  taught  to  all  pupils  in  all 
schools  with  special  reference  to  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  the 
human  system.  This  branch  of  learning,  is  to  be  treated  by 
school  authorities  as  are  all  other  compulsory  topics  of  study. 

HIGH  SCHOOLS. 
High  schools         SECT.  2.    Every  town  may,  and  every  town  containing  five 

in  towns  of 

five  hundred      hundred  families  or  householders,  according  to  the  latest  public 

tranche's          census  taken  by  the  authority  either  of  the  commonwealth  or  of 

QU|bt3'8     2      the  United  States,  shall,  besides  the  schools  prescribed  in  the 

1868,  226.          preceding  section,  maintain  a  high  school  to  be  kept  by  a  mas- 

ter of  competent  ability  and  good  morals,  who,  in  addition  to 

the  branches  of  learning  before  mentioned,  shall  give  instruc- 

tion in  general  history,  book-keeping,  surveying,  geometry, 

natural  philosophy,  chemistry,  botany,  the  civil  polity  of  this 

commonwealth  and  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Latin  Ian- 

Duration  of      guage.     Such  high  school  shall  be  kept  for  the  benefit  of  all 

Towns  of  four  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  ten  months  at  least,  exclusive  of 


*      vacations,  in  each  year,  and  at  such  convenient  place  or  alter- 

10  Metros1'     nately  at  sucn  places  in  the  town  as  the  legal  voters  at  their 

11  Cusii.  178.     annual  meeting  determine.     And  in  every  town  containing  four 

98  Miss  589 

thousand  inhabitants,  the  teacher  or  teachers  of  the  schools 
required  by  this  section  shall,  in  addition  to  the  branches  of 
instruction  before  required,  be  competent  to  give  instruction  in 
the  Greek  and  French  languages,  astronomy,  geology,  rhetoric, 
logic,  intellectual  and  moral  science,  and  political  economy. 

PAYMENT  or  TUITION  IN  HIGH  SCHOOLS. 
Chap.  363  of  the  Acts  of  1891  provides  :- 

1.  Any  town  not  required  by  law  to  maintain  a  high  school 
shall  pay  for  the  tuition  of  any  child  who  with  the  parent  or 
guardian  resides  in  said  town  and  who  attends  the  high  school 
of  another  town  or  city,  provided  the  parent  or  guardian  of 
such  child  before  such  attendance  obtains  the  approval  of  the 
school  committee  of  the  town  in  which  the  child  and  parent 
or  guardian  reside. 

2.  If  any  town  not  required   by  law  to   maintain   a  high 
school  neglects  or  refuses  to  pay  for  tuition  as  provided  in  the 
preceding  section,  such  town  shall  -be  liable  therefor  to  the 
parent  or  guardian  of  the  child  furnished  with  such  tuition,  if 
the  parent  or  guardian  has  paid  the  same,  or  to  the  town  or 
city  furnishiag  the  same,  in  an  action  of  contract. 


44.]  EVENING   SCHOOLS.  31 

The  "master"  maybe  either  male  or  female.  The  term 
"  may ?'  applies  to  both  grades  of  high  schools.  The  law  estab- 
lishing the  two  grades  named  in  this  section  was  passed  in 
1826.  Fifty-nine  towns  that  have  less  than  500  families  each 
are  maintaining  high  schools ;  164  cities  and  towns  are  required 
to  maintain  high  schools,  223  cities  and  towns  are  maintaining 
high  schools. 

By  the  last  census  the  population  of  the  State  is  2,238,943  ; 
the  population  of  the  towns  supporting  high  schools  is 
2,120,279,  or  94^  per  cent,  of  the  whole  population. 

EVENING  SCHOOLS. 

Chapter  174  of  the  Acts  of  1883  provides  :  - 

1.  Every  town  and  city  having  ten  thousand  or  more 
inhabitants  shall  establish  and  maintain,  in  addition  to  the 
schools  required  by  law  to  be  maintained  therein,  evening 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  persons  over  twelve  years  of  age 
in  orthography,  reading,  writing,  geography,  arithmetic,  draw- 
ing, the  history  of  the  United  States,  and  good  behavior.  Such 
other  branches  of  learning  may  be  taught  in  such  schools  as 
the  school  committee  of  the  town  shall  deem  expedient. 

2  The  school  committee  of  such  towns  shall  have  the  same 
superintendence  over  such  evening  schools  as  they  have  over 
other  schools,  and  may  determine  the  term  or  terms  of  time  in 
each  year,  and  the  hours  of  the  evening  during  which  such 
schools  shall  be  kept,  and  may  make  such  regulations  as  to 
attendance  at  such  schools  as  they  may  deem  expedient. 

3.  Nothing  contained  hi  this  act  shall  exempt  any  person 
from  the  requirements  of  section  one  of  chapter  forty-seven  of 
the  Public  Statutes. 

ILLITERATE  MINORS. 

Chapter  433  of  the  Acts  of  1887  requires  that :  — 

1.  Every  owner,  superintendent  or  overseer  of  any  manu- 
facturing, mechanical   or  mercantile  establishment    or    who 
employs,  or  permits  to  be  employed  therein,  a  minor  under 
fourteen  years  of  age  who  cannot  read  and  write  in  the  English 
language,  except  during  the  vacation  of  the  public  schools  in 
the  city  or  town  where  such  minor  lives,  and  every  parent  or 
guardian  who  permits  such  employment,  shall,  for  every  such 
offence,  forfeit  not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars, 
for  the  use  of  the  public  schools  of  such  city  or  town. 

2.  (As  amended  by  chap.  135  of  the  Acts  of  1889  and  chap. 
317,  Acts  of  1891.)     Every  person  who  employs,  or  permits  to 
be  employed,  a  minor  fourteen  years  of  age,  or  over,  who  can- 


32  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

not  read  and  write  in  the  English  language,  and  who  resides  in 
a  city  or  town  in  this  Commonwealth  wherein  public  evening 
schools  are  maintained,  and  is  not  a  regular  attendant  of  a  day 
school,  or  has  not  attained  an  attendance  of  seventy  per  cent,  or 
more  of  the  yearly  session  of  the  evening  school,  shall,  for 
every  such  offence,  forfeit  not  less  than  fifty  nor  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars,  for  the  use  of  the  evening  schools  of  such  city 
or  town. 

3.  (As  amended  by  chapter  48  of  the  Acts  of  1890  )     When- 
ever it  appears  that  the  labor  of  any  minor  who  would  be 
debarred  from  employment  under  section  two  of   this   act  and 
amendments  thereto  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  family 
to  which  said  minor  belongs,  or  for  his  own  support,  the  school 
committee  of  said  city  or  town  may,  in  the  exercise  of  their  dis- 
cretion, issue  a  permit  authorizing   the   employment  of  such 
minor  within  such  time  or  times  as  they  may  fix,  provided,  such 
minor  make  application  to  said  school  committee,  or  some  per- 
son duly  authorized  by  said  committee,  for  such   a  permit 
before  the  opening  of  the  yearly  session  of  the  evening  school 
of  said  city  or  town ;  and  the  provisions  of  said  section  two 
shall  not  apply  to  such  minor  so  long  as  said  permit  is  in  force  ; 
provided,  also,  that  if  such  minor  has  been  prevented  by  sick- 
ness or  injury  from  attending  said  evening  school,  as  provided 
in  said  section  two  as  amended  by  chapter  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine,  the  school  committee  shall  issue  to  such  minor  the  permit 
provided  for  in  this  section,  upon  the  presentation  of  the  fol- 
lowing blank  properly  filled  and  signed  : 

To  the  School  Committee  of  the  : 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  attended 

from  to  ;  that  said  was 

sick  or  injured  with  ;  and  that  said 

was  not  in  suitable  physical  condition  to  attend  evening  school 
for  the  term  of  days. 

(Signed) 

Attending  Physician. 

[Dated] 

The  school  committee  of  every  city  or  town  in  this  Com- 
monwealth wherein  public  evening  schools  are  maintained 
.shall  furnish  blanks  described  in  the  foregoing  paragraph 
upon  application. 

4.  Two  weeks  next  before  the  opening  of  each  term  of  the 
evening  schools,  the  school  committee  shall,  by  posters  posted 

.in  three  or  more  public  places  of  said  city  or  town,  give  notice 
of  the  location  of  said  schools,  the  date  of  the  commencement 
of  the  term,  the  evenings  of  the  week  during  which  said  schools 
shall  be  kept,  the  provisions  of  section  two  of  this  act  as  to 
forfeiture  for  non-compliance  with  said  section,  and  such  reg- 
ulations as  to  attendance  as  they  shall  deem  proper. 


44.]  HIGH   SCHOOLS.  33 

EVENING  HIGH  SCHOOLS. 
Chapter  236  of  the  Acts  of  1886  provides  that :  — 

1.  Every  city  of  fifty  thousand  or  more  inhabitants  shall  es- 
tablish and  thereafter  annually  maintain  an  evening  high  school 
in  which  shall  be  taught  such  branches  of  learning  as  the  school 
committee  thereof  may  deem  expedient,  whenever  fifty  or  more 
residents,  fourteen  years  of  age  or  over,  who  desire  and,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  school  committee,  are  competent  to  pursue  high 
.school  studies,  shall  petition  in  writing  for  an  evening  high 
school  and  certify  that  they  desire  to  attend  such  school. 

2.  The  school  committee  shall  have  the  same  superintend- 
ence over  such  schools  as  they  have  over  day  schools ;  may 
determine  the  term  or  terms  of  time  in  each  year  and  the  hours 
of  the  evening  during  which  such  schools  shall  be  kept,  and 
may  make  such  regulations  as  to  attendance  thereat  as  they 
may  deem  proper. 

UNION  HIGH  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS. 

SECT.  3.     Two  adjacent  towns,  having  each  less   than  five  High  school 

hundred  families  or  householders,  may  form  one  high  school  adjacent in 

•district  for  establishing  such  a  school  as  is  contemplated  in  the  towns,  how 

established. 

preceding  section,  when  a  majority  or  the  legal  voters  of  each    1848, 279,  §  i. 

town,  in  meetings  called  for  that  purpose,  so  determine.  103  Mass.  99. 

SECT.  4.     The  school  committees  of  the  two  towns  so  united   Committee, 

„  ,        „     ,     .  how  chosen. 

shall  elect  one  person  from  each  ot  their  respective  boards,   Powers, 
.and  the  two  so  elected  shall  form  the  committee  for  the  man-   GJS.^.'H.' 
agement  and  control  of  such  school,  with  all  the  powers  con- 
ferred upon  school  committees  and  prudential  committees. 

SECT.  5.    The  committee  thus  formed  shall  determine  the      to  deter- 
location  of  the  school-house  authorized  to  be  built  by  the  towns   ^schoof  U°D 
forming  the  district,  or,  if  the  towns  do  not  determine  to  erect   n°U8e- 
a  house,  shall  authorize  the  location  of  such  school  alternately   Gr.  8.,  3*',  §  5. 
in  the  two  towns. 

SECT.  6.     In  the  erection  of  a  school-house  for  the  perma-   Expenses 
ne«4r  location  of  such  school,  in  the  support  and  maintenance   1848^279°!  4. 
of  the  school,  and  in   all  incidental   expenses  attending  the   G-8'38»§6' 
same,  the  proportions  to  be  paid  by  each  town,  unless  other- 
wise agreed  upon,  shall  be  according  to  its  proportion  of  the 
•county  tax. 

INDUSTRIAL  AND  MECHANICAL  DRAWING. 

SECT.  7.     Any  town  may,  and  every  city  and  town  having  Industrial  and 

more  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants  shall,  annually  make  pro-  d^wTng'to1  be 

vision  for  giving  free  instruction  in  industrial  or  mechanical  tau8nt  free  to 

persons  over 

drawing  to  persons  over  fifteen  years  of  age,  in  either  day  or   fifteen  years 
•evening  schools,  under  the  direction  of  the  school  committee.       1870^248,  §  2. 


34 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 


[Chap. 


Industrial 
schools  may 
be  established 
by  towns.etc., 
under  super 
intendency  of 
school  com- 
mittee. 
1872,  86. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS. 

SECT.  8.  A  town  may  establish  and  maintain  one  or  more 
industrial  schools,  which  shall  be  under  the  superintendence  of 
the  school  committee,  who  shall  employ  the  teachers,  prescribe 
the  arts,  trades,  and  occupations  to  be  taught  therein,  and  have 
the  general  control  and  management  thereof ;  but  they  shall 
not  expend  for  any  such  school  an  amount  exceeding  the 
appropriation  specifically  made  therefor,  and  shall  not  compel 
any  scholar  to  study  any  trade,  art,  or  occupation  without  the 
consent  of  his  parent  or  guardian ;  and  attendance  upon  such 
school  shall  not  take  the  place  of  the  attendance  upon  public 
schools  required  by  law. 


Cities  and 

towns  may 

establish  nau- 


8h°8rej5  9 


NAUTICAL  SCHOOLS. 
SECT.  9.     A  town  may  establish  and  maintain,  upon  shore  or 

.  .  , 

upon  ships  or  other  vessels  at  the  option  of  the  school  com- 
mittee,  one  or  more  schools  for  training  young  men  or  boys 
in  nautical  duties  ;  such  schools  shall  be  subject  to  the  provi- 
sions of  the  preceding  section,  except  that  the  school  committee 
may  excuse  boys  attending  such  nautical  schools  from  attend- 
ance on  other  schools. 


Union  schools 
may  be  estab- 
lished by  two 
or  more 
towns. 
1868,  278,  §  1. 

how  man- 
aged, located, 
supported, 
etc 

1868,  278,  §  2. 
103  Mass.  99. 


UNION  SCHOOLS. 

SECT.  10.  Two  or  more  towns  may,  by  a  vote  of  a  major- 
ity of  the  legal  voters  in  each  town,  unite  in  establishing  union 
schools  for  the  accommodation  of  such  contiguous  portions  of 
each  as  shall  be  mutually  agreed  upon. 

SECT.  11.  The  management  and  control  of  such  schools,  the 
location  of  the  same  or  of  the  school-houses  therefor,  and  ihe 
apportionment  of  the  expenses  of  erecting  such  school-houses 
and  of  the  support  and  maintenance  of  said  schools,  with  all 
expenditures  incident  to  the  same,  shall  be  governed  by  the 
provisions  of  sections  four,  five  and  six. 


Schools  may 
be  maintained 
for  those  over 
twelve  years 
of  age. 
G.  8.  38,  §  7. 
1869,  305. 
10  Allen,  149. 


Schools  to  be 
under  super- 
intendence of 
committee. 
G.  S.38,  §8. 


SCHOOLS  FOR  PERSONS  OVER  TWELVE  YEARS  OLD. 

SECT.  12.  A  town  may  establish  and  maintain,  in  addition 
to  the  schools  required  bylaw  to  be  maintained  therein,  schools 
for  the  education  of  persons  over  twelve  years  of  age ;  may 
determine  the  term  or  terms  of  time  in  each  year  and  the 
hours  of  the  day  or  evening  during  which  said  school  shall  be 
kept;  and  may  appropriate  such  sums  of  money  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  support  thereof. 

SECT.  13.  When  a  school  is  so  established,  the  school  com- 
mittee shall  have  the  same  superintendence  over  it  as  they  have 
over  other  schools,  and  shall  determine  what  branches  of  learn- 
ing may  be  taught  therein. 


44.]  MORAL   INSTRUCTION.  35 


FEMALE  ASSISTANTS. 

SECT.  14.     In  every  public  school  having  an  average  of  fifty   Female  assist- 
scholars,  the  school  district  or  town  to  which  such  school  be-   Jfj^  38>  §  9. 
longs,  shall  employ  one  or  more  female  assistants,  unless  such 
district  or  town  votes  to  dispense  with  such  assistant. 

It  would  be  well  for  the  schools  if  the  wise  provision  made 
by  this  statute  was  always  observed.  Great  waste  will  be 
produced  whenever  a  larger  number  of  pupils  than  can  be  well 
taught  are  assigned  to  one  teacher.  Forty  pupils  is  the  maxi- 
mum number. 

MORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

SECT.  15.     It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  president,  professors,    Duty  of  in- 
and  tutors  of  the  university  at  Cambridge  and  of  the  several    coiieges,  etc. 


colleges,  of  all  preceptors  and  teachers  of  academies,  and  of 

GL  s.  38, 

127 


all  other  instructors  of  youth,  to  exert  their  best  endeavors  to    GL  s.  38,  §  10. 

12  Allen   1 


impress  on  the  minds  of  children  and  youth  committed  to  their 
care  and  instruction  the  principles  of  piety  and  justice  and  a 
sacred  regard  to  truth  ;  love  of  their  country,  humanity,  and 
universal  benevolence  ;  sobriety,  industry  and  frugality  ; 
chastity,  moderation  and  temperance  ;  and  those  other  virtues 
which  are  the  ornament  of  human  society  and  the  basis  upon 
which  a  republican  constitution  is  founded  ;  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  such  instructors  to  endeavor  to  lead  their  pupils,  as 
their  ages  and  capacities  will  admit,  into  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  tendency  of  the  above-mentioned  virtues  to  preserve 
and  perfect  a  republican  constitution  and  secure  the  blessings 
of  liberty  as  well  as  to  promote  their  future  happiness,  and 
also  to  point  out  to  them  the  evil  tendency  of  the  opposite 
vices. 

SECT.  16.     The  resident  ministers  of  the  gospel,  the  select-   Dutyofminie- 

,  i     .      .  -,    ters  an<i  town 

men  and  the  school  committees  shall  exert  their  influence  and   officers. 
use  their  best  endeavors  that  the  youth  of  their  towns  shall   101  Maes.  143*. 
regularly  attend  the  schools  established  for  their  instruction. 

These  provisions  of  the  statutes  contain  an  emphatic  ex- 
pression of  the  will  of  the  people  concerning  the  introduction 
of  the  moral  element  into  all  our  public  instruction.  By  it  the 
teachers  of  science,  as  well  as  of  religion,  are  enjoined  to  train 
the  young  under  their  care  to  the  practice  of  every  virtue. 
This  provision,  sanctioned  and  enforced  by  the  popular  will,  has 
produced  a  most  marked  effect  upon  the  spirit  of  our  educa- 
tional institutions. 


36 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 


[Chap. 


Towns  to 
raise  money 
tor  Hchools. 
G.  S.  38,  §12. 
10  Met.  513. 


TOWNS  TO  RAISE  MONEY  FOR  SCHOOLS. 

SECT.  17.  The  several  towns  shall  at  their  annual  meet- 
ings, or  at  a  regular  meeting  called  for  the  purpose,  raise  such 
sums  of  money  for  the  support  of  schools  as  they  judge  neces- 
sary ;  which  sums  shall  be  assessed  and  collected  in  like  man- 
ner as  other  town  taxes. 


School  funds 
of  corpora- 
tions not 
affected,  etc. 
G.  S.38,§  13. 


Forfeiture  for 

neglect  to 

raise  money, 

etc. 

G.  8.  38,  §  14. 

11  Cush.  178. 


Forfeiture, 
three-fourths 
of,  appropri- 
ated to 
schools. 
G-.  S.  38,  §  15. 


SCHOOL  FUNDS  OF  CORPORATIONS 

SECT.  18.  Nothing  contained  in  this  chapter  shall  affect  the 
right  of  any  corporation  established  in  a  town  to  manage  any 
estate  or  funds  given  or  obtained  for  the  purpose  of  supporting 
schools  therein,  or  in  any  wise  affect  such  estate  or  funds. 

PENALTY  FOR  REFUSAL  OR  NEGLECT  TO  RAISE  MONEY. 

SECT.  19.  A  town  which  refuses  or  neglects  to  raise  money 
for  the  support  of  schools  as  required  by  this  chapter  shall  for- 
feit a  sum  equal  to  twice  the  highest  sum  ever  before  voted  for 
the  support  of  schools  therein.  A  town  which  refuses  or 
neglects  to  choose  a  school  committee  to  superintend  its 
schools,  or  to  choose  prudential  committees  in  the  several  dis- 
tricts, when  it  is  its  duty  to  choose  such  prudential  committees, 
shall  forfeit  not  less  than  five  hundred  nor  more  than  one 
thousand  dollars  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  county. 

SECT.  20.  Three-fourths  of  any  forfeiture  so  paid  shall  be 
paid  by  the  county  treasurer  to  the  school  committee,  if  any, 
otherwise  to  the  selectmen  of  the  town  from  which  it  is  recov- 
ered, who  shall  apportion  and  appropriate  the  same  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  schools  of  such  town  in  the  same  manner  as  if  it 
had  been  regularly  raised  by  the  town  for  that  purpose. 


By  the  seventeenth  section  the  towns  are  required  to  raise 
such  sums  of  money  for  the  support  of  schools  as  they  judge 
necessary.  The  town  is  to  judge  of  the  needed  expenditure. 
The  annual  report  of  the  school  committee  will  furnish  the 
data  on  which  the  judgment  of  the  town  is  to  be  based.  An 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  money  needed  to  carry  on  the 
schools  for  the  year  should  be  made  by  the  committee  and 
presented  to  the  town  at  its  annual  meeting.  It  would  be  well 
to  make  the  estimate  in  detail  as  follows  :  — 


1.  For  support  of  schools,  including  wages  and  board  of  teachers,  fuel, 
care  of  fires  and  school-rooms. 

2.  Repairs. 


44.  J  SCHOOL   COMMITTEES.  37 

3.  Apparatus,  books  of  reference,  text  books,  superintendence,  convey- 
ance of  children,  etc. 

4.  Incidentals,  as  school-room  supplies,  pails,  brooms,  crayons,  erasers,  etc. 

The  towns  have  authority  to  raise  money  for  the  support  of 
all  schools  that  may  properly  be  called  town  schools.  See 
decision  below. 

The  court  are  of  the  opinion,  that  the  provision  in  the  statutes  which  pro- 
vides the  small  amount  of  schooling  which  towns  are  compelled  to  provide 
for  under  a  penalty,  is  not  a  definition  or  limit  of  the  public  schools  which 
they  have  authority  to  provide  for  by  taxation  ;  but  that  the  provision  is  to 
be  taken  in  connection  with  the  broader  power  given  to  towns  to  grant  and 
vote  money,  as  they  shall  judge  necessary,  for  the  support  of  schools,  and 
also  with  the  whole  course  of  policy  and  of  legislation  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject. This  power  is  to  be  exercised  in  good  faith,  for  the  support  of  "  town 
schools,11  as  that  term  is  well  known  and  understood,  for  the  general  bene- 
fit, and  not  colorably  for  the  promotion  of  other  and  different  objects.  — 
Mctcalf,  vol.  10,  page  520. 

In  the  case  of  The  Commonwealth  v.  The  Inhabitants  of 
Sheffield  (11  Cushing,  178),  it  was  held  that  the  offence 
contemplated  by  the  statutes  on  which  the  nineteenth  and 
twentieth  sections  of  this  chapter  are  founded,  could  be  com- 
mitted only  once  a  year  —  that  the  calendar  year  is  intended. 

CONVEYANCE  OF  PUPILS. 

Chapter  132  of  the  Acts  of  1869  provides  that  any  town  in 
the  Commonwealth  may  raise  by  taxation  or  otherwise,  and 
appropriate  money  to  be  expended  by  the  school  committee  in 
their  discretion,  in  providing  for  the  conveyance  of  pupils  to 
and  from  the  public  schools. 

ELECTION  AND  GENERAL  POWERS  OF  SCHOOL  COMMITTEES. 

SECT.  21      Every  town  shall,  at  its  annual  meeting,  or  at  a   School  com- 
meeting  appointed  and  notified  by  the  selectmen  for  the  pur-   Siosen',  etc* 


pose  and  held  in  the  same  month  in  which  the  annual  meeting   e^gi™f 


occurs,  choose  by  written  ballots  a  school  committee,  which  G-  8.  38,  §  16. 

shall  have  the  general  charge  and  superintendence  of  all  the  1879^  223! 

public  schools  in  the  town.     Said  committee  shall  consist  of 

any  number  of  persons  divisible  by  three  which  said  town  has 

decided  to  elect,  one-third  thereof  to  be  elected  annuallv,  and  10  Alien,  149. 

«i        ^  >T  -,  -,  12  Allen,  127. 

to  continue  in  office  three  years.     No  person  shall  be  deemed  101  Mass.  143. 

to  be  ineligible  to  serve  upon  a  school  committee  by  reason  of  ^5  Mass'.  Saj 

sex.     If  a  town  fails  or  neglects  to  choose  such  committee,  an  602\ 

116  Mass.  36o. 

election  at  a  subsequent  meeting  shall  be  valid. 


38  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

The  school  law  of  1826,  chapter  170,  section  1,  first  required 
towns  to  elect  a  school  committee. 

By  the  statutes  of  1827,  chapter  143,  section  5,  every  town 
was  required  to  elect  three,  five,  or  seven  persons,  and  towns 
containing  four  thousand  inhabitants  were  empowered  to  choose 
an  additional  number  not  exceeding  five. 

The  act  of  1857,  chapter  270,  changed  the  number  to  three 
or  some  multiple  of  three,  and  each  member  after  the  first  elec- 
tion was  to  hold  office  for  three  years. 

By  this  section  the  committee  have  general  charge  and  super- 
intendence of  the  schools. 

The  school  committee  of  a  town  are  to  determine  what  is  a 
"  sufficient  number  "  of  schools  for  a  town  to  maintain.  Chief 
Justice  Shaw  uses  the  following  language  :  — 

There  being  no  specific  direction  how  schools  shall  be  organized ; 
how  many  schools  shall  be  kept ;  what  shall  be  the  qualifications  for 
admission  to  the  schools ;  the  age  at  which  children  may  enter ;  the 
age  to  which  they  may  continue,  —  these  must  all  be  regulated  by 
the  committee,  under  their  power  of  general  superintendence. 

The  power  of  general  superintendence  vests  a  plenary  authority  in 
the  committee  to  arrange,  classify,  and  distribute  pupils,  in  such  a 
manner  as  they  think  best  adapted  to  their  general  proficiency  and 
welfare.  If  they  should  judge  it  expedient  to  have  a  grade  of 
schools  for  children  from  seven  to  ten,  and  another  for  those  from  ten 
to  fourteen,  it  would  seem  to  be  within  their  authority  to  establish 
such  schools  ;  so  to  separate  male  and  female  pupils  into  different 
schools. 

In  the  absence  of  special  legislation  on  this  subject,  the  law  has 
vested  the  power  in  the  committee  to  regulate  the  system  of  distribu- 
tion and  classification  ;  and  when  this  power  is  reasonably  exercised, 
without  being  abused  or  perverted  by  colorable  pretences,  the  decision 
of  the  committee  must  be  deemed  conclusive.  5  Gush.  207,  208,  209. 

It  is  competent  for  teachers,  with  the  approval  of  the  school 
committee,  to  require  pupils  to  prepare  other  exercises  and  to 
pursue  other  studies  than  those  named  in  this  section,  if  they 
are  clearly  included  in  those  required, — as  composition-writ- 
ing is  included  in  orthography  and  in  grammar. 

The  general  school  committee  of  a  city  or  town  have  power, 
under  the  laws  of  this  Commomvealth,  in  order  to  maintain  the 
purity  and  discipline  of  the  public  schools,  to  exclude  there- 


44.]  VACANCIES   IN   COMMITTEES.  39 

from  a  child  whom  they  deem  to  be  of  a  licentious  and  im- 
moral character,  although  such  character  is  not  manifested  by 
any  acts  of  licentiousness  or  immorality  within  the  school. 
8  Cush.  160. 

The  school  committee  has  authority,  not  subject  to  revision 
if  exercised  in  good  faith,  to  exclude  a  pupil  from  a  public  school 
for  misconduct  which  injures  its  discipline  and  management ; 
and  the  expulsion  of  such  a  pupil  from  the  school  by  a  part  of 
the  committee,  unanimously  ratified  afterwards  by  the  full  com- 
mittee, is  not  an  irregularity  in  the  exercise  of  the  authority, 
which  gives  the  pupil  a  right  of  action  against  the  town.  105 
Mass.  475. 

FILLING  VACANCIES  IN  COMMITTEE. 

SECT.  22.  If  a  person  elected  a  member  of  the  school  com-  Vacancies, 
mittee,  after  being  duly  notified  of  his  election  in  the  manner  Q.B.M,§IT. 
in  which  town  officers  are  required  to  be  notified,  refuses  or 
neglects  to  accept  said  office,  or  if  a  member  of  the  committee 
declines  further  service,  or,  from  change  of  residence  or  other- 
wise, becomes  unable  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  the  committee, 
the  remaining  members  shall,  in  writing,  give  notice  of  the 
fact  to  the  selectmen  of  the  town,  or  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen 
of  the  city,  and  the  two  boards  shall  thereupon,  after  giving 
public  notice  of  at  least  one  week,  proceed  to  fill  such  vacancy ; 
and  a  majority  of  the  ballots  of  persons  entitled  to  vote  shall 
be  necessary  to  an  election. 

SECT.  23.    If  all  the  persons  elected  members  of  the  school   When  whole 

,  committee 

oommittee,  after  such  notice  of  their  election,  refuse  or  neglect   decline,  new 
to  accept  the  office,  or  having  accepted  afterwards  decline  fur-   Jow'eieSed. 
ther  service,  or  become  unable  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  the    GLS.38,  §18. 
committee,  the  selectmen  or  the  mayor  and  aldermen  shall, 
.after  giving  like  public  notice,  elect  by  ballot  a  new  committee, 
and  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  entire  board  of  selectmen, 
or  of    the  mayor  and   aldermen,  shall   be   necessary   to  an 
•election. 

To  constitute  a  valid  election,  in  case  of  vacancy,  the  per- 
son elected  must  have  received  a  number  of  votes  equal  to  a 
majority  of  all  the  persons  entitled  to  vote ;  that  is,  if  there 
were  in  a  town  five  selectmen  and  five  remaining  members  of 
the  school  committee,  there  would  be  ten  persons  entitled  to 
vote ;  and  six  votes  would  be  necessary  to  an  election,  even 
though  only  eight,  or  seven,  or  six  votes  should  be  cast.  The 
same  rule  also  applies  when,  under  the  authority  given  in  the 


40  PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

twenty-third  section,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  a  city  or  the= 
selectmen  of  a  town  proceed  to  elect  an  entire  board  of  school 
committee.  An  article  "  to  choose  all  necessary  town  officers" 
is  notice  only  of  those  elections  that  are  provided  for  by  the 
standing  laws.  Hence  it  follows  that  vacancies  occurring  after 
the  warrant  for  the  annual  election  is  issued,  and  before  tlie 
election  is  held,  cannot  be  filled  at  that  meeting.  In  such  case 
the  vacancy  must  be  filled  by  the  convention  provided  for  in 
the  twenty-second  and  twenty-third  sections  of  this  chapter. 

The  following  case  w^as  once  submitted  to  the  department : 
The  annual  meeting  of  a  town  was  held  on  the  fifth  of  March. 
Before  the  election  of  members  of  the  school  committee,  the 
meeting  adjourned  to  the  first  Monday  of  April.  About  the 
twentieth  of  March  a  member  of  the  school  committee  resigned. 
On  the  twenty-seventh  of  March  the  remaining  members  of  the 
committee  and  the  selectmen,  after  ffivinsj  due  notice,  elected  a 

G  O 

person  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

At  the  meeting  in  April,  it  being  an  adjournment  of  the 
March  meeting,  and  acting  under  an  article  in  the  warrant  ' '  to 
choose  all  necessary  town  officers,"  the  town  elected  a  different, 
person  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  attorney-general  gave  an  opin- 
ion that  the  election  by  the  town  was  not  valid,  and  that  the 
person  elected  in  convention  was  entitled  to  the  seat. 

Term  of  ser-         SECT.  24.     The  term  of  service  of  every  member  elected  in 

vice  of  person 

filling  va-  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  two  preceding  sections  shall 
G^sf  'as,  §  19.  end  with  the  municipal  or  official  year  in  which  he  is  chosen  ; 
and  if  the  vacancy  which  he  was  elected  to  fill  was  for  a*  longer 
period,  it  shall,  at  the  first  annual  election  after  the  occurrence 
of  the  vacancy,  be  filled  in  the  manner  prescribed  for  original 
elections  of  the  school  committee. 

OLD  BOARD  TO  MAKE  RETURNS. 
On  election  of       SECT  25.     All  the  members  of  the  school  committee  shall 

new  board,  . 

certain  duties  continue  in  office  for  the  purpose  ot  superintending  the  winter 
tinue.  (  terms  of  the  several  schools,  and  of  making  and  transmitting 

issf  ill  ^  2°  ^e  cei*tificate,  returns,  and  report  of  the  committee,  notwith- 
standing the  election  of  any  successor  at  the  annual  meeting ; 
but  for  all  other  duties,  the  term  of  office  shall  commence  im- 
mediately after  election  ;  except  that,  in  cities  where  no  differ- 
ent provision  has  been  specifically  made,  the  term  of  office  of 
members  of  the  school  committee  shall  commence  at  the  time 
provided  in  regard  to  members  of  the  several  city  councils. 


44.]  INCREASE   OF   COMMITTEES.  41 


INCREASING  OR  DIMINISHING  COMMITTEE. 

SECT.  2G.     A  town  may,  at  its  annual  meeting,  vote  to  in-    Committee, 
crease  or  diminish  the  number  of  its  school  committee.     Such   Jr  ^dimShed 
increase  shall  be  made  by  adding  one  or  more  to  each  class,  to    Q"m  8<  38>  §  21> 
hold  office  according  to  the  tenure  of  the  class  to  which  they 
are   severally  chosen.      Such   diminution   shall   be    made  by 
choosing,  annually,  such  number  as  will  in  three  years  effect 
it,  and  a  vote  to  diminish  shall  remain  in  force  until  the  dimi- 
nution under  it  is  accomplished. 

By  this  statute  a  town  may  increase  its  school  committee  by 
adding  an  equal  number  to  each  of  its  three  classes,  and  this 
may  be  done  at  any  annual  meeting  named  for  that  purpose. 
It  will,  however,  require  three  years  to  effect  a  diminution,  as 
members  once  duly  elected  cannot  be  deprived  of  their  offices. 
During  the  time  required  to  make  the  diminution,  it  may  occur 
that  the  committee  will  not  always  consist  of  some  multiple  of 
three . 


SECT.  27.     The  school  committee  shall  appoint  a  secretary   Committee, 

..    .  records  of; 

and  keep  a  permanent  record  book,  in  which  all  its  votes,   secretary, 
orders,  and  proceedings  shall  by  him  be  recorded.  riG^ias^.  365." 

SECT.  28.     The  school  committee,  [unless  the  town  at  its  an-    145  Ma88-  555- 

to  contract 

nual  meeting  determines  that  the  duty  may  be  performed  by    with  teachers, 
the  prudential  committee],  shall  select  and  contract  with  the   G.  S.  38,  §*23. 
teachers  of  the  public  schools;    shall  require  full  and  satis-   * Sfen^M.' 
factory  evidence  of  the  good  moral  character  of  all  teachers   98  Mass.  587. 
who  may  be  employed ;  and  shall  ascertain,  by  personal  ex- 
amination, their  qualifications  for  teaching,  and  their  capacity 
for  the  government  of  schools. 

(The  clause  in  the  above  section  enclosed  in  brackets  is  ren- 
dered void  by  chapter  219  of  the  Acts  of  1882,  which  abolished 
the  school  district  system.) 


NORMAL  SCHOOL  DIPLOMAS  IN  LIEU  OF  CERTIFICATES, 
Chapter  159  of  the  Acts  of  1891  provides  that- 

The  diplomas  granted  by  the  State  normal  schools  of  this 
Commonwealth  to  the  graduates  of  such  schools  may  be 
accepted  by  the  school  committees  of  towns  and  cities  in  lieu 
of  the  personal  examination  required  by  section  twenty-eight 
of  chapter  forty-four  of  the  Public  Statutes. 


42  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 


TENURE  or   OFFICE. 

Chapter  313  of  the  Acts  of  1886  provides  that  the  school 
committee  of  any  city  or  town  may  elect  any  duly  qualified 
person  to  serve  as  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  such  city 
or  town  during  the  pleasure  of  such  committee  :  provided,  such 
person  has  served  as  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  such  city 
or  town  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  one  year. 

SELECTION  AND  EXAMINATION  OF  TEACHERS. 

The  duty  indicated  in  the  twenty-eighth  section  is  the  most 
important  one  which  the  school  committee  is  called  to  perform. 
It  is  necessary  that  the  schools  shall  be  supplied  with  good 
teachers ;  for,  whatever  may  be  done  by  external  agencies,  a 
good  school  will  never  exist  until  it  is  created  by  a  good  teacher. 

The  committee  are  to  find  such  teachers  by  examination. 
The  most  satisfactory  examination  will  be  made  by  observing 
a  teacher  at  his  work.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  the  candidate 
may  be  examined  by  questions,  which  shall  test  his  ability  to 
teach  the  branches  of  learning  to  be  pursued  in  the  schools, 
also  his  ability  to  organize  and  control  a  school.  Before  a 
teacher  is  employed,  the  committee  should  be  thoroughly  satis- 
fied that  he  has  a  good  moral  character,  and  that  he  has  a  good 
method  of  teaching  morals  to  his  pupils. 

"  The  authority  and  duty  of  the  school  committee  of  a  town 
are  not  confined  to  ascertaining  by  examination  the  literary 
qualifications  of  teachers,  and  their  capacity  for  the  government 
of  schools  ;  but  they  are  the  sole  judges  of  their  qualifications  in 
all  respects  to  teach  and  govern  the  school  for  which  they  are 
selected."  9  Allen,  94. 

SALARIES  AND  APPROPRIATIONS. 

* '  The  school  committee  have  the  whole  power  to  examine 
teachers,  and  no  one  can  legally  be  a  teacher  in  any  public 
school,  until  he  has  received  from  the  school  committee  a  writ- 
ten certificate  of  his  qualification. 

"  By  this  statute,  the  committee  has  the  power,  absolutely 
and  unconditionally,  to  agree  upon  the  salaries  of  the  teachers. 


44.]  AUTHORITY   OF  TEACHEKS.  43 

There  is  no  power  given  to  any  other  men,  or  body  of  men,  to 
contract  with  the  teachers,  and  this  power  is  given  by  the 
.statute,  and  not  by  the  town  or  city. 

1  <  The  Legislature  have  imposed  on  the  committee  the  duty 
of  seeing  to  it  that  the  public  schools  are  in  a  condition  and  of 
a  character  best  calculated  to  advance  the  improvement  and 
promote  the  good  of  the  pupils.  The  character  of  the  schools 
will  depend  on  the  character  of  the  teachers,  and  the  character 
of  the  teachers  will  depend  on  the  compensation.  The  power 
to  fix  the  compensation  is  chiefly  intrusted  to  the  committee 
for  the  full,  appropriate  and  most  useful  discharge  of  their 
duties.  This  power  the  Legislature,  for  the  most  satisfactory 
reasons,  have  expressly  given  to  them.  To  say  that  the  city 
is  not  bound  to  pay  according  to  the  contract  of  the  committee 
would  be  in  effect  to  say,  that  the  committee  had  no  power  to 
contract."  Bachelder  v.  City  of  Salem.  4  Gush.  599. 

"The  power  of  the  school  committee  to  fix -the  compensa- 
tion of  the  teachers  of  the  schools  of  a  city,  and  bind  the  city 
to  pay  the  same,  cannot  be  controlled  by  the  city  council 
except  by  voting  to  close  the  schools  after  they  have  been  kept 
open  the  time  required  by  law. 

"  The  power  given  to  the  school  committee  to  contract  with 
teachers  necessarily  implies  and  includes  the  power  to  deter- 
mine their  salaries.  And  in  so  doing  they  are  not  restricted  to 
the  amount  appropriated  by  the  city  council. 

"The  school  committee  are  an  independent  body,  intrusted 
by  law  with  large  and  important  powers  and  duties ;  and, 
although  every  discretionary  power  is  liable  to  abuse,  against 
which  no  perfect  safeguards  can  be  provided,  yet  we  are  aware 
of  no  substantial  reason  for  supposing  that  the  power  of  fixing 
teachers'  salaries  is  more  liable  to  abuse  by  the  school  commit- 
tees than  by  the  city  council.  At  all  events,  the  interpretation 
of  the  law  to  which  we  now  adhere  was  adopted  many  years 
ago  [see  Bachelder  v.  Salem,  4  Cush.  603],  and  the  Legisla- 
ture has  not  seen  fit  to  change  its  provisions."  98  Mass.  587. 

AUTHORITY  or   TEACHERS  OVER  PUPILS. 

Section  1  of  chapter  44  of  the  Public  Statutes  imposes  upon 
the  teachers  of  the  public  schools  the  duty  of  instructing  their 
pupils  in  good  behavior. 


44  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

The  Constitution  of  the  State  makes  it  the  duty  of  all  insti- 
tutions of  learning  to  train  those  committed  to  them  in  the 
practice  of  every  virtue.  To  attain  these  ends  it  is  necessary 
that  a  wise  government  over  the  pupils  shall  be  uniformly  and 
persistently  maintained.  The  teacher  is  therefore  vested  with 
the  authority  of  the  parent  in  the  control  of  the  children  in 
their  relations  as  pupils  of  his  school. 

1.  In  the  school-room  he  has  exclusive  control  of  his  pupils, 
subject  only  to  the  direction  of  the  school  committee. 

2.  He  may  rightfully  exercise  the  same  full  control  over  his 
pupils  at  any  time  while  they  are  on  any  part  of  the  school 
premises. 

3.  While  the  pupils  are  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  school, 
the  authority  of  the  teacher  may  be  considered  as  concurrent 
with  that  of  the  parent  or  guardian.     If  the  pupils  in  coming 
to  school,  or  in  going  from  it  to  their  homes,  commit  an  offence 
against  the  civil  laws,  it  will  be  well  to  leave  the  offenders  in 
the  hands  of  judicial  or  parental  authority.     But  if  the  children 
quarrel  on  their  way,  or  are  wilfully  tardy,  or  use  indecent  and 
profane  language,  or  in  any  way  by  their  conduct  injure  the 
good  order  and  discipline  of  the  school,  the  teacher  may  take 
notice  of  such  conduct  by  subjecting  the  offender  to  such  wise 
and  judicious  treatment  as  will  have  a  tendency  to  prevent  a 
repetition    of  the  offence.     In  such   cases   the  teacher  should 
exercise  great  caution  not  to  use  any  doubtful  authority,  or  any 
questionable  modes  of  correction. 

TEACHERS'  CERTIFICATES. 

Teachers  to          SECT.  29.     Every  teacher  of  a  town  or  district  school  shall, 

tile  certificate;   before  he  opens  such  school,  obtain  from  the  school  committee 

pahidDa         V   a  certificate  in   duplicate  of  his  qualifications,  one  of  which 

G.  8. 38,  §  24.    shall  be  deposited  with  the  selectmen  before  any  payment  is 

made  to  such  teacher  on  account  of  his  services  ;  and  upon  so 

filing  such  certificate,  the  teacher  of  any  public  school  shall  be 

entitled  to  receive,  on  demand,  his  wages  due  at  the  expiration 

of  any  quarter,  or  term  longer  or  shorter  than  a  quarter,  or 

upon  the  close  of  any  single  term  of  service,  subject  to  the 

conditions  specified  in  section  fifteen  of  chapter  forty-six. 

DISMISSAL  OF  TEACHER. 

Teachers  may  SECT.  30.  The  school  committee  may,  when  they  think 
bedis  *ed,  prOper?  dismiss  any  teacher  from  employment,  and  such  teacher 
i2'Gra8'3§395'  sna^  receive  no  compensation  for  services  rendered  after  such 
9  Alien,' 94.  dismissal. 


44.]  BIBLE   IN    SCHOOLS.  45 

No  teacher  shall  be  allowed  to  enter  upon  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  his  office  until  he  has  obtained  from  the  school 
committee  a  duplicate  certificate  of  qualifications.  He  must 
deposit  one  copy  with  the  selectmen  of  the  town  ;  the  other 
he  must  retain  for  his  own  reference.  Until  this  is  done  the 
teacher  has  no  authority  either  to  teach  or  to  control  a  school, 
nor  will  he  be  legally  entitled  to  his  wages. 

The  power  granted  by  the  thirtieth  section  is  absolute.  It 
will  often  happen  that  a  committee  may  be  in  possession  of 
sufficient  reasons  to  justify  the  dismissal  of  a  teacher,  and 
yet  a  wise  public  policy  would  avoid  a  disclosure  of  them* 
Experience  has  proved  that  this  power  is  not  liable  to  abuse. 
Committees  are  reluctant  to  take  upon  themselves  the  responsi- 
bility of  dismissing  a  teacher,  except  in  extreme  cases. 

WHEN  COMMITTEES  SHALL  VISIT  SCHOOLS. 
SECT.  31.    The  school  committee  or  some  one  or  more  of   School  com- 

,        ,        mittees  to  visit 

them  in  each  town  where  there  is  no  superintendent  ot  schools,   school*  at 


shall  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  and  making  a  careful 
examination  of  the  schools,  and  of  ascertaining  that  the 
scholars  are  properly  supplied  with  books,  visit  all  the  public  notice  to 

,          n  -,,*  i       P        -  1        teachers  ;  pur- 

schools  therein  on  some  clay  during  the  nrst  week  alter  the   p0se  of  visits. 
opening   of   such   schools,   and   on   some  day  during  the  two   S76,'i86,S§2i. 
weeks   preceding  the  close  of  the  same,  and  also,  without 
giving  previous  notice  thereof  to  the  instructors,  once  in  each 
month  ;  and  they  shall  at  such  examinations  inquire  into  the 
regulation  and  discipline  of  the  schools  and  into  the  habits  and 
proficiency  of  the  scholars. 

The  requirements  of  this  section  are  so  plain  as  to  leave  no 
room  for  explanation. 

BIBLE  TO  BE  READ  IN  THE  SCHOOLS. 

SECT.  32.     The   school   committee    shall   require  the  daily   Bible  to  be 
reading  in  the  public  schools  of  some  portion  of  the  Bible,   JehooJL    See- 


without  written  note  or  oral  comment;  but   they   shall  not 

require  a  scholar  whose  parent  or  guardian  informs  the  teacher   1862,  57. 

in  writing  that  he  has  conscientious  scruples  against  it,  to  read   12  Allen,'  127. 

from  any  particular  version,  or  to  take  any  personal  part  in 

the  reading  ;  nor  shall  they  direct  to  be  purchased  or  used  in 

the  public  schools  school-books  calculated  to  favor  the  tenets 

of  any  particular  sect  of  Christians. 

"The  school    committee  of  a  town  may  lawfully  pass  an 
order  that  the  schools  thereof  shall  be  opened  each  morning 


46  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

with  reading  from  the  Bible  and  prayer,  and  that  during  the 
prayer  each  scholar  shall  bow  the  head,  unless  his  parent* 
request  that  he  shall  be  excused  from  doing  so  :  and  may  law- 
fully exclude  from  the  school  a  scholar  who  refuses  to  comply 
with  such  order,  and  whose  parents  refuse  to  request  that  he 
shall  be  excused  from  doing  so."  12  Allen,  127. 

It  is  the  settled  policy  of  the  State  to  require  the  use  of  the 
Bible  in  the  public  schools,  and  since  the  passage  of  the  act  of 
1855,  there  have  been  but  few  objections  made. 

The  duty  of  the  committees  is  performed  if  they  require  the 
Bible  to  be  read  by  the  teachers  as  a  part  of  the  morning 
devotional  service.  The  law  does  not  prescribe,  as  a  rule  from 
which  there  are  to  be  no  deviations,  that  every  pupil  who  may 
be  able  to  read  the  Bible  shall  be  required  to  do  so.  In  this 
respect  a  discretion  is  vested  in  the  committees.  No  sectarian 
books  are  used  in  the  schools. 

COMMITTEE  TO  PRESCRIBE  COURSE  OF  STUDIES. 

Committee  to  SECT.  33.  The  school  committee  shall  direct  what  books 
books  shall  be  shall  be  used  in  the  public  schools,  and  shall  prescribe,  as  fal- 
sehood" Pand1C  as  *s  practicable,  a  course  of  studies  and  exercises  to  be  pur- 
prescribe  sued  therein.  These  exercises  may,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
studies.  committee,  include  calisthenic,  gymnastic,  and  military  drill : 

I88i|i93,§i.  provided,  that  no  special  instructors  shall  be  employed  to 
teach  gymnastic,  calisthenic  or  military  drill,  except  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  committee  present  and  voting  thereon.  But 
no  pupil  shall  be  required  to  take  part  in  any  military  exercise 
in  case  he,  his  parent  or  guardian,  notifies  the  school  committee 
that  he  or  such  parent  or  guardian  has  conscientious  scruples 
against  such  exercise,  or  believes  it  would  be  injurious  to  the 
health  of  said  pupil. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  schools  of  every  town  shall  have  a 
definite  and  well  arranged  course  of  studies. 

The  topics  introduced  into  the  course  should  be  such  as  will 
lead  the  learner  to  obtain  useful  knowledge,  and  such  also  as 
will  furnish  occasions  for  that  activity  of  the  mind  which  will 
produce  the  best  mental  development.  The  topics  should  be 
so  arranged  in  the  course  that  they  will  hold  a  logical  relation 
to  one  another,  and  will  be  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  minds 
of  the  pupils  as  their  powers  are  developed. 


44.]  TEXT-BOOKS.  47 


CHANGES  OF  SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

SECT.  34.     A  change  may  be  made  in  the  school-books  used  Committee 
in  the  public  schools  in  a  town  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  books  by  two- 
whole  school  committee  thereof  at  a  meeting  of    said  com-  whole  com-°f 
mittee,  notice  of  such  intended  change  having  been  given  at  a  ^!7"e|j  §  2 
previous  meeting. 

FREE    TEXT-BOOKS. 

Chapter  103  of  the  Acts  of  1884  provides  that  the  school 
committee  of  every  city  and  town  shall  purchase,  at  the 
expense  of  such  city  or  town,  text-books  and  other  school 
supplies  used  in  the  public  schools ;  and  said  text-books  and 
supplies  shall  be  loaned  to  the  pupils  of  said  public  schools 
free  of  charge,  subject  to  such  rules  and  regulations  as  to  care 
and  custody  as  the  school  committee  may  prescribe. 

Chapter  161  of  the  Acts  of  1885  provides  that  school  com- 
mittees may  procure,  at  the  expense  of  the  city  or  town,  in 
accordance  with  appropriations  therefor  previously  made,  such 
apparatus,  books  of  reference,  and  other  means  of  illustration 
as  they  deem  necessary  for  the  schools  under  their  supervision. 

The  advantages  of  the  free  text-book  system  are  :  — 

1.  Economy  in  time  and  money.    Under  the  present  system 
the  schools  may  be  supplied,  on  the  first  day  of  the  term,  with 
all  necessary  means  of  study.     This  prevents  the  long  delays 
that  were  formerly  experienced  in  organizing  the  classes,  and 
enables  the  teacher  to  make  a  better  classification  of  his  school. 
Experience  has  proved  that  the  expense  of  books  and  supplies, 
by  the  new  method  of  purchase,  is  reduced  nearly  one-half. 

2.  The  new  system  furnishes  a  good  occasion  for  training 
the  children  to  take  good  care  of  those  things  not  their  own, 
but  which  they  are  allowed  to  use. 

3.  It  seems,  by  the  returns,  to  have  increased  the  attend- 
ance upon  the  schools  more  than  ten  per  cent. 

4.  The  public  schools   of  the   State  are  now  literally  free 
schools,  offering  to  all,  on  the  same  free  terms,  the  advantages 
of  a  good  public  school  education. 

Before  the  act  of  1884  was  passed,  sixteen  towns  in  the 
State  had  voluntarily  adopted  the  free  text-book  system.  In 
all  cases  the  most  satisfactory  results  followed. 


48 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 


[Chap. 


Duty  of  com- 
mittee where 
school  is  for 
benefit  of 
whole  town. 
G.S.38,  §33. 


SECT.  41.  In  any  town  containing  five  hundred  families  and 
in  which  a  high  school  is  kept  as  before  provided,  the  school 
committee  shall  perform  the  duties  in  relation  to  such  school, 
the  house  where  it  is  kept,  and  the  supply  of  all  things  neces- 
sary therefor,  which  the  prudential  committee  may  perform  in 
a  school  district. 


PAY  OF  SCHOOL  COMMITTEES. 

Compensation  SECT.  42.  Each  member  of  the  school  committee  in  cities 
.  s.  38,  §  34!  shall  be  paid  one  dollar  a  day,  and  in  towns  two  dollars  and  a 
half  a  day,  for  the  time  actually  employed  in  discharging  the 
duties  of  the  office,  together  with  such  additional  compensation 
as  the  city  or  town  may  allow,  except  as  provided  in  the  fol- 
lowing section. 


vr. o.  oo,  5 
1873,  157. 


Superintend- 
ent of  schools, 
appointment, 
duties,  etc. 
G.  8.  38,  §  35. 
1860,  101. 
1870,  117. 

1873,  108. 

1874,  272. 
Ill  Mass.  87. 


SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

SECT.  43.  A  city  by  ordinance,  and  a  town  by  vote,  may  require 
the  school  committee  annually  to  appoint  a  superintendent, 
who,  under  the  direction  and  control  of  said  committee,  shall 
have  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  public  schools ;  or  the 
school  committee  of  any  city  without  such  ordinance  may 
appoint  a  superintendent  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  whole 
board ;  the  compensation  of  the  superintendent  shall  not  be 
less  than  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  each  day  of  actual  ser- 
vice, and  shall  be  determined  by  tne  school  committee,  and,  in 
cities  without  such  ordinance,  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  whole 
board  ;  in  every  city  in  which  such  ordinance  is  in  force  or  in 
which  a  superintendent  is  appointed,  and  in  every  town  in 
which  a  superintendent  is  appointed,  and  which  does  not  pro- 
vide otherwise  by  vote,  the  school  committee  shall  receive  no 
compensation. 


Towns  may 
form  a  district 
for  employ- 
ment of  super- 
intendent of 
schools. 
1870, 183,  §  1. 

manner  of 
appointment, 
salary,  etc., 
1870, 183,  §  2. 


UNION  OF  TOWNS  TO  EMPLOY  SUPERINTENDENT. 

SECT.  44.  Two  or  more  towns  may,  by  a  vote  of  each,  form 
a  district  for  the  purpose  of  employing  a  superintendent  of 
public  schools  therein,  who  shall  perform  in  each  town  the 
duties  prescribed  by  law. 

SECT.  45.  Such  superintendent  shall  be  annually  appointed 
by  a  joint  committee,  composed  of  the  chairman  and  secretary 
of  the  school  committee  of  each  of  the  towns  in  said  district, 
who  shall  determine  the  relative  amount  of  service  to  be  per- 
formed by  him  in  each  town,  and  shall  fix  his  salary  and 
apportion  the  amount  thereof  to  be  paid  by  the  several  towns, 
and  certify  such  amount  to  the  treasurer  of  each  town.  Said 
joint  committee  shall,  for  said  purposes,  be  held  to  be  the 
agents  of  each  town  composing  such  district. 


44.]  SUPERINTENDENTS.  49 

Chapter  431  of  the  Acts  of  1888  provides  as  follows :  — 

1.  Any  two  or  more  towns  the  valuation  of  each  of  which 
•does  not  exceed  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and 
the  aggregate  number  of  schools  in  all  of  which  is  not  more 
than  fifty  nor  less  than  thirty,  may,  by  vote  of  the  several 
towns,  unite  for  the  purpose  of  the  employment  of  a  superin- 
tendent of  schools  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

2.  When  such  a  union  has  been  effected,  the  school  com- 
mittees of  the  towns  comprising  the  union  shall  form  a  joint 
committee,  and  for  the  purposes  of  this  act  said  joint  committee 
shall  be  held  to  be  the  agents  of  each  town  comprising  the 
union.    Said  committee  shall  meet  annually  in  joint  convention 
in  the  month  of  April  at  a  day  and  place  agreed  upon  by  the 
•chairman  of  the  committees  of  the  several  towns  comprising 
the  union,  and  shall  organize  by  the  choice  of  a  chairman  and 
secretary.      They  shall  choose  by  ballot  a  superintendent  of 
schools ;  determine  the  relative  amount  of  service  to  be  per- 
formed by  him  in  each  town ;  fix  his  salary,  and  apportion  the 
amount  thereof  to  be  paid  by  the  several  towns,  and  certify 
such  amount  to  the  treasurer  of  each  town. 

STATE  AID  FOR  SUPERINTENDENTS. 

3.  Whenever  the  chairman  and  secretary  of  such  joint  com- 
mittee shall  certify  to  the  state  auditor,  under  oath,  that  a  union 
has  been  effected  as  herein  provided,  that  the  towns,  in  addition 
to  an  amount  equal  to  the  average  of  the  total  sum  paid  by 
the  several  towns  for  schools  during  the  three  years  next  pre- 
ceding, unitedly  have  raised  by  taxation  and  appropriated  a 
sum  not  less  than  seven  hundred  and    fifty  dollars  for  the 
support  of    a  superintendent  of  schools,  and  that  under  the 
provisions  of  .this  act  a  superintendent  of   schools  has  been 
employed  for  one  year,  a  warrant  shall  be  drawn  upon  the 
treasurer  of  the  Commonwealth  for  the  payment  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  one-half  of  which  amount  shall  be  paid  for  the 
salary  of  such  superintendent  and  the  remaining  one-half  shall 
be  apportioned  and  distributed  on  the  basis  of  the  average 
public  school  attendance  of  the  towns  forming  such  district  for 
the  year  next  preceding,  which  amount  shall  be  paid  for  the 
salaries  of   teachers  employed  in  the  public   schools  within 
such  district. 

4.  [As  amended  by  chapter  379,  Acts  of  1890,  and  chapter 
272,  Acts  of  1891.] 

A  sum  not  exceeding  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  shall  be 
annually  appropriated  for  the  purposes  of  this  act. 

5.  The  provisions  of  section  forty-three  of  chapter  forty- 
four  of  the  Public  Statutes  respecting  the  service  of  school 
committees  without  pay  in  towns  wherein  a  superintendent  is 
appointed,  shall  not  apply  to  towns  uniting  in  the  employment 
of  a  superintendent  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 


50  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  [Chap. 

It  is  the  universal  testimony  of  those  best  able  to  judge,  that 
the  schools  of  a  country  are  good  as  their  superintendence  is 
good,  and  poor  as  their  superintendence  is  inefficient.  The 
cities  and  large  towns  of  the  Commonwealth  have  provided 
themselves  with  school  superintendents.  The  small  towns  can 
provide  themselves  with  these  agents,  under  the  provisions 
made  in  section  44,  or  under  those  made  by  the  act  of  1888, 
chapter  431.  The  experiment  has  been  tried  by  the  formation 
of  districts,  under  the  law  of  1870,  and  under  that  of  1888  ;  it 
has  proved  eminently  successful. 


Towns  not  SECT.  46.     Every  town  not  divided  into  school  districts  shall 

districted  to 

maintain 

etc.°°Pena?tey'   properly  furnished  and  conveniently  located  for  the  accommo- 


SCHOOL-HOUSES. 
wn  not  divided  in 

maintain  provide  and   maintain  a  sufficient  number  of   school-houses, 

properly  furnished  and  conveniently  located  for  the  accommo- 
dation  of  all  the  children  therein  entitled  to  attend  the  public 
1871,  145.          schools  :  and  the  school  committee,  unless  the  town  otherwise 

145  Mass.  555.      ,. 

directs,  shall  keep  such  houses  in  good  order,  and  shall  procure 
a  suitable  place  for  the  schools,  where  there  is  no  school-house, 
and  provide  fuel  and  all  other  things  necessary  for  the  comfort 
of  the  scholars  therein,  at  the  expense  of  the  town.  A  town 
which  for  one  year  refuses  or  neglects  to  comply  with  the  require- 
ments of  this  section  shall  forfeit  not  less  than  five  hundred  nor 
more  than  one  thousand  dollars  to  be  paid,  apportioned,  and 
appropriated,  as  provided  in  sections  nineteen  and  twenty. 

In  accordance  with  the  provision  of  section  46  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  school  committee  of  a  town  to  keep  the  school-houses  in 
a  good  condition  for  the  convenience,  comfort,  and  health  of 
the  children  and  their  teachers.  This  implies  that  the  school- 
houses  are  provided  \vith  a  good  site  and  situation  ;  that  they 
are  furnished  with  proper  heating  and  ventilation  ;  that  they  are 
constructed  so  that  the  rooms  shall  have  an  abundance  of  light 
falling  properly  on  the  eyes  of  the  children,  and  that  they 
shall  be  of  proper  size  to  accommodate  alb  who  may  rightfully 
occupy  them. 

SANITARY  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOL-HOUSES. 
Chapter  149  of  the  Acts  of  1888  provides  :- 

1.  Every  public  building  and  every  school-house  shall  be 
kept  in  a  cleanly  state  and  free  from  effluvia  arising  from  any 
drain,  privy  or  other  nuisance,  and  shall  be  provided  with  a 
sufficient  number  of  proper  water  closets,  earth  closets,  or 
privies  for  the  reasonable  use  of  the  persons  admitted  to  such 
public  building  or  of  the  pupils  attending  such  school-house 


44.]  SCHOOL-HOUSES.  51 

2.  Every  public  building  and  every  school-house  shall  be 
ventilated  in  such  a  proper  manner  that  the  air  shall  not  be- 
come so  exhausted  as  to  be  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  per- 
sons present  therein.     The  provisions  of  this  section  and  the 
preceding  section  shall  be  enforced  by  the  inspection  depart- 
ment of  the  district  police  force. 

3.  Whenever  it  shall  appear  to  an  inspector  of  factories  and 
public  buildings  that  further  or  different  sanitary  provisions  or 
means  of  ventilation  are  required  in  any  public  building  or 
school-house  in  order  to  conform  to  the  requirements  of  this 
act,  and  that  the  same  can  be  provided  without  incurring  un- 
reasonable expense,  such  inspector  may  issue  a  written  order 
to  the  proper  person  or  authority  directing  such  sanitary  pro- 
visions or  means  of  ventilation  to  be  provided,  and  they  shall 
thereupon  be  provided  in  accordance  with  such  order  by  the 
public  authority,  corporation  or  person  having  charge  of,  own- 
ing or  leasing  such  public  building  or  school-house. 

[Amended  by  chapter  261,  Acts  of  1891  by  the  addition  of   Amendment 
the  following  words]  :     Any  person  or  corporation  aggrieved   appeal^frmn, 
by  the  order  of  an  inspector  issued  as  above  provided,  and   10nr^.gtor  B 
relating  to  a  public  building  or  a  school-house  in  a  city  or  town   1891,  261. 
may,  within  two  weeks  from  the  day  of  the  service  thereof,  or 
in  the  case  of  such  an  order  already  issued,  within  thirty  days 
from  the  date  of  the  passage  of  this  act,  apply  in  writing  to 
the  board  of  health  of  such  city  or  town  to  set  aside  or  amend 
the  same  ;  and  thereupon,  after  such  notice  as  said  board  shall 
order  to  all  parties  interested,  a  hearing  shall  be  given  by  said 
board  upon  such  order  of  the  inspector,  and  said  board  may 
either  alter  such  order,  annul  it  in  full  or  affirm  the  same.     The 
order  so  amended  shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  the 
original  order. 

4.  Any  school  committee,  public  officer,  corporation  or  per- 
son neglecting  for  four  weeks  after  the  receipt  of  an  order 
from  an  inspector,  as  provided  in  the  preceding  section,  to 
provide  the  sanitary  provisions  or  means  of  ventilation  required 
thereby  shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred 
dollars. 

5.  The  expression  "  public  building  "  used  in  this  act  means 
any  building  or  premises  used  as  a  place  of  public  entertain- 
ment, instruction,  resort    or    assemblage.      The    expression 
'•  school-house  "  means  any  building  or  premises  in  which  pub- 
lic or  private  instruction  is  afforded  to  not  less  than  ten  pupils 
at  one  time. 

LOCATION  OF  SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

SECT.  47.    A  town,  at  a  meeting  legally  called  for  the  pur-   Location  of 

' 


pose,  may  determine  the  location  of  its  school-houses  and  Q-.  s.  38,  §  37. 
adopt  all  necessary  measures  to  purchase  and  procure  land  for  JJ?  MawT/f.06" 
the  accommodation  thereof.  loVroy*  "io35" 

117  Mass.  384, 


52 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 


[Chap. 


Land  may  be 
taken  for 
school-house 
lots;  damages, 
etc. 

1  874,  342,  §1. 

2  Gray,  414. 
10  Gray,  40. 
4  Allen,  508. 
102  Mass.  512. 
117  Mass.  385, 


Owner  of  land 
may  have 
jury.    Pro- 
ceedings. 
Damages  and 
costs. 

G.  S.  38,  §  39. 
2  Gray,  414. 
109  Mass.  225. 


TAKING  LAND  FOR  SCHOOL-HOUSES, 

SECT.  48.  When  land  has  been  designated  by  a  town  or  by 
a  school  district  or  those  acting  under  its  authority,  or  has 
been  determined  upon  by  the  selectmen  of  a  town,  as  a  suitable 
place  for  the  erection  of  a  school-house  and  necessary  build- 
ings, or  for  enlarging  a  school -house  or  school-house  lot,  the 
selectmen  may  proceed  to  select,  at  their  discretion,  and  to 
lay  out  a  school-house  lot  or  an  enlargement  thereof,  and  to 
appraise  the  damages  to  the  owner  of  such  land  in  the  manner 
provided  for  laying  out  town  ways  and  appraising  damages 
sustained  thereby ;  and  upon  the  approval  and  adoption  by  the 
town  of  such  selection  and  laying  out  of  such  lot,  or  of  any 
enlargement  thereof,  the  land  shall  be  taken,  held,  and  used 
for  such  purpose.  But  no  lot  so  taken  or  enlarged  shall  exceed 
in  the  whole  eighty  square  rods,  exclusive  of  the  land  occupied 
by  the  school  buildings. 

SECT.  49.  When  the  owner  feels  aggrieved  by  the  laying 
out  or  enlargement  of  such  lot,  or  by  the  award  of  damages, 
he  may,  upon  application  therefor  in  writing  to  the  county 
commissioners  within  one  year  thereafter,  have  the  matter  of 
his  complaint  tried  by  a  jury,  and  the  jury  may  change  the 
location  of  such  lot  or  enlargement,  and  assess  damages  there- 
for. The  proceedings  shall  in  all  respects  be  conducted  in  the 
manner  provided  in  cases  of  damages  by  laying  out  highways. 
If  the  damages  are  increased  or  the  location  changed  by  the 
jury,  the  damages  and  all  charges  shall  be  paid  by  the  town ; 
otherwise  the  charges  arising  on  such  application  shall  be  paid 
by  the  applicant.  The  land  so  taken  shall  be  held  and  used 
for  no  other  purpose  than  that  contemplated  by  this  chapter, 
and  shall  revert  to  the  owner,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  upon  the 
discontinuance  there,  for  one  year,  of  such  school  as  is  required 
by  law  to  be  kept  by  the  town. 


Committee  of 
town  not  dis- 
tricted to  have 
charge  of 
school-houses. 
G.  S.38,  §40. 


Provisions  of 
chapter  to  ap- 
ply to  cities, 
except,  etc. 
G.  S.  38,  §  41. 


USE  OF  SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

SECT.  50.  The  school  committee  of  a  town  in  which  the 
school  district  system  does  not  exist  shall  have  the  general 
charge  and  superintendence  of  the  school-houses  therein,  so 
far  as  relates  to  the  uses  to  which  the  same  may  be  appro- 
priated. 

SECT.  51.  Except  as  may  be  otherwise  provided  in  their 
respective  charters  or  in  acts  in  amendment  thereof,  the  pro- 
visions of  this  chapter,  so  far  as  applicable,  shall  apply  to 
cities. 


46.] 


SCHOOL   KEGISTERS. 


53 


CHAPTER  46. 


OF   SCHOOL  KEGISTERS  AND  RETURNS. 


SECTION 

1.  Town  clerks  to  deliver  registers,  etc., 
to  school  committee. 

2.  If  not  received. 

3.  Duties  of  school  committee  as  to  per- 
sons between  five  and  fifteen. 

4.  Penalty  for  withholding  information 
from  committee,  etc. 

5.  School  committee  to  certify  number 
of  children,  sums  raised  for  schools, 
etc. 

6.  Registers  to  be  kept ;  returns. 

7.  In  returns,  twenty  days  or  forty  half- 
days  to  be  counted  as  one  month. 


SECTION 

8.  Committee's  report;  to  whom  sent; 
where  deposited ;  to  be  printed. 

9.  When  report  is  not  made. 

10.  When  informal,  etc. 

11.  Penalty  for  neglect  or  for  informal, 
etc.,  report. 

12.  Reports,  etc.,  of  board  of  education, 
how  received,  delivered,  and  for  what 
purpose.    In  whom  property  of. 

13.  Who  to  sign  reports. 

14.  Penalty  on  committee  for  neglect  in 
returns,  etc. 

15.  Registers,  how  kept.     Teachers  not 
to  draw  pay  until  return  of  register. 


SECTION  1.  The  clerks  of  the  several  cities  and  towns,  upon 
receiving  from  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  education  the  school 
registers  and  blank  forms  of  inquiry  for  school  returns,  shall 
deliver  them  to  the  school  committee  of  such  cities  and  towns. 

SECT.  2.  If  a  school  committee  fails  to  receive  such  blank 
forms  of  return  on  or  before  the  last  day  of  March,  they  shall 
forthwith  notify  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  education,  who 
shall  transmit  such  forms  as  soon  as  may  be. 

SECT.  3.  The  school  committee  shall  annually,  in  the 
month  of  May,  ascertain  or  cause  to  be  ascertained  the  names 
and  ages  of  all  persons  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen 
years  belonging  to  their  respective  cities  and  towns  on  the  first 
day  of  May,  and  shall  make  a  record  thereof. 

SECT.  4.  Whoever,  having  under  his  control  a  child  between 
the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years,  withholds  information  in 
his  possession  sought  by  a  school  committee  or  its  agents  for 
the  purposes  of  the  preceding  section,  or  falsifies  in  regard  to 
the  same,  shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  twenty 
dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  thirty  days. 


Town  clerks 
to  deliver  reg- 
isters, etc.,  to 
school  com- 
mittee. 
O.  8.  40,  §  1. 

If  not  re- 
ceived. 
G.  S.  40,  §  2. 


School  com- 
mittee to  make 
a  record  of  all 
children  be- 
tween ages  of 
five  and  fif- 
teen. 
1874,  303,  §  1. 

Penalty  for 
withholding 
information 
from  commit- 
tee, etc. 
1879,  21. 


FORM  OF  CERTIFICATE. 

SECT.  5.  The  school  committee  shall  annually,  on  or  before 
the  last  day  of  the  following  April,  certify  .under  oath  the 
numbers  so  ascertained  and  recorded,  and  the  sum  raised  by 
their  city  or  town  for  the  support  of  schools  during  the  preced- 
ing school  year,  including  only  wages  and  board  of  teachers, 
fuel  for  the  schools,  and  care  of  the  fires  and  school-rooms ; 


School  com. 
mittee  to  cer- 
tify number 
of  children, 
also  sum 
raised  for 
support  of 
schools. 
1874,  303,  §  2. 


54  KEGISTERS   AND   RETURNS.  [Chap. 

and  they  shall  transmit  such  certificate  to  the  secretary  of  the 
board  of  education.  The  form  of  such  certificate  shall  be  as 
follows,  to  wit,  — 

Cer"         We'  tne  SCJ10°1  committee  of         ,  do  certify  that  on  the  first 
day  of  May,  in  the  year  ,  there  were  belonging  to  said 

town  [or  city]  the  number  of  persons  between  the  ages 

of  five  and  fifteen  ;  and  we  further  certify  that  said  town  [or 
city]  raised  the  sum  of  dollars  for  the  support  of  public 

schools  for  the  preceding  school  year,  including  only  the  wages 
and  board  of  teachers,  fuel  for  the  schools,  and  care  of  fires 
and  school-rooms,  and  that  said  town  [or  city]  maintained, 
during  said  year,  each  of  the  schools  required  to  be  kept  by 
section  one  of  chapter  forty-four  of  the  Public  Statutes  for  a 
period  not  less  than  six  months  ;  and  we  further  certify  that 
said  town  [or  city]  maintained  during  said  year  schools 

for  the  benefit  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  [or  city]  ,  as 
required  by  section  two  of  chapter  forty-four  of  the  Public 
Statutes  for  months  and  days. 


> 


School  Committee. 

,  ss. 

On  this  day  of  ,  personally  appeared  the  above- 

named  school  committee  of  ,  and  made  oath  that  the 

above  certificate  by  them  subscribed  is  true. 
Before  me, 

Justice  of  the  Peace. 

No  more  important  duty  is  laid  upon  the  school  committees 
than  the  one  prescribed  by  the  fifth  section  of  this  chapter.  If 
properly  discharged,  two  results  will  follow  :  First,  the  census 
will  be  likely  to  be  full  and  accurate  ;  and  second,  the  com- 
mittees who  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  enforcing,  through 
the  aid  of  the  truant  officers,  the  laws  relating  to  school  attend- 
ance, will  have  in  their  own  hands  a  complete  knowledge  of 
the  persons  and  facts,  necessary  to  the  proper  discharge  of 
their  duties. 

SCHOOL  REGISTERS. 
Registers  and       SECT.  6.    The  school  committee  shall  cause  the  school  re<ris- 

returns. 

G.  s.  40,  §  5.  ters  to  be  faithfully  kept  in  all  the  public  schools,  and  shall 
annually,  on  or  before  the  last  day  of  April,  return  the  blank 
forms  of  inquiry,  duly  filled  up,  to  the  secretary  of  the  board 
of  education  ;  and  shall  also  specify  in  said  returns  the  pur- 
poses to  which  the  money  received  by  their  town  or  city  from 

twentyrdays     the  income  of  the  school  fund  has  been  appropriated. 

dayscmimed         SECT.  7.     In  such  returns  twenty  days  or  forty  half  days  of 

as  one  month,   actual  session  shall  be  counted  as  one  month. 

1865,  142,  §  3. 

The  enactment  requiring  registers  to  be  kept  in  schools  was 
made  for  the  purpose  of  securing  full  and  accurate  statistics, 
concerning  the  schools  of  the  Commonwealth,  so  that  suitable 


46.]  SCHOOL   1IEPORTS.  55 

measures  might  he,  from  time  to  time,  adopted  hy  legislation 
and  otherwise,  to  supply  defects  in,  and  increase  the  benefits 
derived  from,  our  common  schools. 

"  Neither  the  school  committee  nor  the  town  have  power 
to  dispense  with  the  proper  keeping  of  a  school  register." 
2  Allen,  592. 

PRINTED  SCHOOL  REPORTS. 

SECT.  8.     The    school   committee    shall    annually  make   a   Committee's 
•detailed  report  of  the  condition  of  the  several  public  schools,   w£>m  sent- 

which  report  shall  contain  such  statements  and  suo-^estions  in   where  depos- 

ited ;  to  be 
relation  to  the  schools  as  the  committee   deem  necessary  or   printed. 

proper  to  promote  the  interests  thereof.     The  committee  shall   n'o-rayj  Lo'. 

cause  said  report  to  be  printed,  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants,   101  Ma88'  142- 

in  octavo,  pamphlet  form,  of  the  size  of  the  annual  reports  of 

the  board  of  education,  and  transmit  two  copies  thereof  to  the 

secretary  of  said  board  on  or  before  the  last  day  of  April,  and 

shall  deposit  one  copy  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  city  or 

town. 

SECT.  9.    When  a  school  committee  fails  to  make  within  the   When  report 
prescribed  time  either  the  returns  or  the  report  required  of   G-.  s.40,  §7. 
them  by  law,  the  secretary  of  the  board  of    education  shall 
forthwith  notify  such  committee,  or  the  clerk  of  the  city  or 
town,  of  such  failure  ;  and  the  committee  or  clerk  shall  imme- 
diately cause  the  same  to  be  transmitted  to  the  secretary. 

See  chap.  43,  sect.  5  ;  chap.  46,  sect.  11  ;  chap.  46,  sect.  14. 

INCORRECT  RETURNS. 

SECT.  10.    If  a  report  or  return  is  found  to  be  informal  or  When  infor- 
incorrect,  the  secretary  shall  forthwith  return  the  same,  with  a   G^S.^O,  §  8. 
statement  of  all  deficiencies   therein,  to  the  committee  for  its 
further  action. 

PENALTY  FOR  FAILURE  TO  MAKE  RETURNS. 

SECT.  11.     The  returns   or  reports  of   a  city  or  town   so   Penalty  for 
returned  by  the  secretary  for  correction,  or  which  have  not  ' 


reached  his  office  within  the  time  prescribed  by  law,  shall  be   [Jpgrt40 

received  by  him  if  returned  during  the  month  of  May  ;  but  in 

all  such  cases  ten  per  cent,  shall  be  deducted  from  the  income 

of  the  school  fund  which  such  city  or  town  would  have  been 

otherwise  entitled  to.     If  such  returns  or  reports  fail  to  reach 

his  office  before  the  first  day  of  June,  then  the  whole  of  such 

city  or  town's  share  of  the  income  shall  be  retained  by  the 

treasurer  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and  the  amount  so  retained, 

as  well  as  the  ten  per  cent,  when  deducted,  shall  be  added  to 

the  principal  of  the  school  fund.     And  such  city  or  town  shall 

in  addition  thereto  forfeit  not  less  than  one  hundred  nor  more 


56 


REGISTERS  AND  RETURNS. 


[Chap. 


Reports,  etc., 
of  board  of 
education, 
how  received, 
delivered,  and 
for  what  pur- 
pose. 
To  whom 
property 
belongs. 
G-.  S.  40,  §  10. 


than  two  hundred  dollars ;  but  if  said  returns  and  reports 
were  duly  mailed  in  season  to  reach  said  office  within  the  time 
required  by  law,  then  the  city  or  town  from  which  they  were- 
due  shall  be  exempt  from  the  forfeiture  otherwise  incurred. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  REPORTS  OF  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 

SECT.  12.  The  clerk  of  each  city  and  town  shall  deliver 
one  copy  of  the  reports  of  the  board  of  education  and  of  its 
secretary  to  the  secretary  of  the  school  committee  of  the  city 
or  town,  to  be  by  him  preserved  for  the  use  of  the  committee,, 
and  transmitted  to  his  successor  in  office ;  and  two  additional 
copies  of  said  reports,  for  the  use  of  said  committee;  and 
shall  deliver  one  copy  of  said  reports  to  the  clerk  of  each 
school  district,  to  be  by  him  deposited  in  the  school  district 
library,  or,  if  there  is  no  such  library,  carefully  kept  for  the 
use  of  the  prudential  committee,  teachers,  and  inhabitants  of 
the  district  during  his  continuance  in  office,  and  then  transmit- 
ted to  his  successor;  and  in  case  the  city  or  town  is  not  dis- 
tricted, said  reports"  shall  be  delivered  to  the  school  committee, 
and  so  deposited  by  them  as  to  be  accessible  to  the  several 
teachers  and  to  the  citizens ;  and  such  report  shall  be  deemed 
to  be  the  property  of  the  city  or  town,  and  not  of  any  officer, 
teacher,  or  citizen  thereof. 


Special  attention  is  called  to  the  provisions  of  the  twelfth 
section. 

WHO  MAY  SIGN  RETURNS. 

Who  to  sign          SECT.  13.     When  the  school  committee  of  a  city  or  town  is 
G.8.40,  §11.    not  less  than  thirteen  in  number,  the  chairman  and  secretary 
thereof  may  in  behalf  of  the  committee,  sign  the  annual  school 
returns  and  the  certificate  required  by  sections  five  and  six. 


Penalty  on 
Committee 
for  neglect 
in  returns, 
etc. 
G.S.40,  §12. 


Registers, 
how  kept. 
Teachers  not 
to  draw  pay 
until  return 
of  register. 
G.  S.  40,  §  13. 
2  Allen,  592. 


PENALTY  FOR  NEGLECT  OF  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE. 

SECT.  14.  A  city  or  town  which  has  forfeited  any  part  of  its- 
portion  of  the  income  of  the  school  fund  through  the  failure 
of  the  school  committee  to  perform  their  duties  in  regard  to 
the  school  report  and  school  returns  may  withhold  the  com- 
pensation of  the  committee. 

TEACHERS  TO  FAITHFULLY  KEEP  THE  REGISTERS. 

SECT.  15.  [As  amended  by  chapter  99,  Acts  of  1891.]  The 
several  school  teachers  shall  faithfully  keep  the  registers  fur- 
nished to  them,  and  make  due  return  thereof  to  the  school 
committee,  or  to  such  person  as  they  may  designate,  and  no 
teacher  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  payment  for  services  for 
the  two  weeks  preceding  the  close  of  any  single  term  until  the 
register,  properly  filled  up  and  completed,  is  so  returned. 


47.] 


SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE. 


57 


Every  good  teacher  will  perform  all  the  labor  required  by 
the  fifteenth  section,  even  though  he  has  no  pecuniary  interest 
therein.  It  is  feared  that  teachers  often  receive  payment  for 
their  services  when  the  register  has  not  been  "  properly  filled 
up  and  returned."  Committees  will  be  justified  in  exacting  a 
careful  and  faithful  performance  of  the  duty. 


CHAPTER    47. 


OF  THE  ATTENDANCE  OF  CHILDREN  IN  THE  SCHOOLS. 


SECTION 

1.  Every  person  having  control  of  chil- 
dren   between    eight    and    fourteen 
years  old  to  cause  same  to  attend 
school.  Penalty  for  neglect.  Excuses 
for  neglect. 

2.  What  private    schools   may  be  ap- 
proved under  preceding  section. 

3.  Truant  officers  and  school  committee 
to  inquire  and  prosecute. 

4.  All  children  may  attend  where  they 
reside. 

5.  School  committee  to  regulate  admis- 
sion, etc.,  to  high  school. 

6.  Children    may  attend    in  adjoining 


SECTION 

town,  and  committee  pay  for  instruc- 
tion. 

7.  Wards  may  attend  where  guardian 
resides. 

8.  Children  may  attend  in  other  towns 
than  place  of  parents'  residence,  and 
parents  pay,  etc. 

9.  not  to  attend  unless  vaccinated. 

10.  Race,  etc.,  not  to  exclude. 

11.  Teachers   and   school  committee  to- 
state  grounds  of  exclusion. 

12.  Damages  for  exclusion,  how  recov- 
ered. 

13.  Interrogatories  to  committee,  etc. 


CHILDREN   BETWEEN  EIGHT  AND   FOURTEEN   YEARS   MUST 
ATTEND  SCHOOL. 


[As  amended  by  chap.  464,  Acts  of  1889,  and   Every  person 


Every  person  having  under  his  control  a   of  children 
ages   of  eight  and  fourteen  years   shall 


SECTION  1. 
chap.  384  of  1890.] 
child  between  the 
annually  cause  such  child  to  attend  some  public  day  school  in   yjjj™  ganie0to 
the  city  or  town  in  which  he  resides,  and  such  attendance  shall   attend  school 
continue  for   at  least  thirty  weeks  of  the  school  year  if  the    etc.eri 
schools  are  kept  open  that  length  of  time,  with  an  allowance   Syf/^ro^gi'. 
of  two  weeks'  time  for  absences  not  excused  by  the  superin-   J|J*«  2|3,  §  i  - 
tendent  of  schools   or  the   school   committee,  and   for  every 
neglect  of  such  duty  the  person  offending  shall,  upon  the  com- 
plaint of  a   school  committee  or  any  truant  officer,  forfeit  to 
the  use  of  the  public  schools  of  such  city  or  town  a  sum  not 
exceeding  twenty  dollars  ;  but  if  such  child  has  attended  for  a 
like  period  of  time  a   private   day  school  approved  by  the 
school  committee  of  such  city  or  town,  or  if  such  child  has 
been  otherwise  instructed  for  a  like  period  of  time  in  the 
branches  of  learning  required  by  law  to  be  taught  in  the  public 


58  SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE.  [Chap. 

schools,  or  has  already  acquired  the  branches  of  learning 
required  by  law  to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools,  or  if  his 
physical  or  mental  condition  is  such  as  to  render  such  attend- 
ance inexpedient  or  impracticable,  such  penalty  shall  not  be 
incurred. 

Com^ory  Chap.  361  of  the  Acts  of  1891  provides  that  in  every  city 
fifteen  in  and  town  where  opportunity  is  furnished,  in  connection  with 
the  regular  work  of  the  public  schools,  for  gratuitous  instruc- 
tion in  the  use  of  tools  or  in  manual  training,  or  for  industrial 
education  in  any  form,  every  person  having  under  his  control  a 
child  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fifteen  years  shall  cause 
such  child  to  attend  the  public  schools  during  the  same  number 
of  weeks  in  each  school  year  during  which  attendance  is  now 
by  law  required  in  the  case  of  children  between  the  ages  of 
eight  and  fourteen  years,  and  subject  to  the  same  exceptions  ; 
and  for  neglect  of  such  duty  the  person  offending  shall  be 
liable  to  the  same  forfeiture,  to  be  enforced  in  the  same  man- 
ner and  subject  to  the  same  exceptions  as  now  provided  by 
law  in  case  of  neglect  to  require  the  attendance  of  a  child 
between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years. 

By  the  act  of  1642  the  selectmen  of  every  town  were  in- 
structed to  have  a  vigilant  eye  over  their  brethren  and  neigh 
bors,  to  see  that  none  of  them  shall  suffer  so  much  barbarism  in 
any  of  their  families  as  not  to  endeavor  to  teach,  by  themselves 
or  others,  their  children  and  apprentices  so  much  learning  as 
may  enable  them  to  read  the  English  tongue,  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  capital  laws. 

Section  1  of  this  chapter  is  a  reproduction  of  the  act  of 
1642.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  Commonwealth  to  offer  to  every 
child  the  advantages  of  a  good  education.  It  is  supposed  that 
every  parent  or  guardian  will  voluntarily  accept  the  offer.  The 
nature  of  our  institutions  and  the  relation  that  every  individual 
holds  to  them,  render  universal  education  a  necessity.  But  if 
in  any  case  the  offer  is  not  accepted,  nor  the  necessity  perceived, 
then  the  school  authorities  must  take  advantage  of  our  compul- 
sory law.  Every  child  must  be  in  school  for  at  least  thirty 
weeks  of  the  year,  from  the  time  he  is  eight  until  he  reaches 
the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  in  all  towns  in  which  provision 
is  made  for  * '  instruction  in  the  use  of  tools  or  in  manual  train- 
ing or  for  industrial  education  in  any  form,"  he  must  be  in 
school  until  he  reaches  the  age  of  fifteen  years.  It  is  not  to  be 
assumed,  however,  that  the  legal  rights  of  children  are  limited 
by  the  statutes  in  regard  to  the  time  of  attendance.  The  school 
committees  have  authority  vested  in  them  of  admitting  pupils 


47.]  PRIVATE   SCHOOLS.  59 

to  the  schools  before  they  are  eight  and  after  they  are  fifteen 
years  of  age.  But  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  truant 
officers  of  a  town,  acting  under  instructions  from  the  school 
committees,  to  secure  the  attendance  of  all  children  between 
the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years  upon  some  approved  school 
for  at  least  thirty  weeks  in  every  year. 

WHEN  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS  MAY  BE  APPROVED. 

SECT.  2.     [As  amended  by  chap.  464,  Acts  of  1889  ]     For  the   What  private 
purposes  of    the   preceding  section  school  committees   shall   be  approved 
approve  a  private  school  only  when  the  teaching  in  all  the   ceSngwsctJon* 
studies  required  by  law  is  in  the  English  language,  and  when   j|7|,  279,  §  i. 
they  are  satisfied  that  such  teaching  equals  in  thoroughness  and   1889J  404! 
efficiency  the  teaching  in  the  public  schools  in  the  same  locality, 
and  that  equal  progress  is  made  by  the  pupils  therein,  in  the 
studies  required  by  law,  with  that  made  during  the  same  time  ^^J^yjrM] 
in  the  public  schools;  but  they  shall  not  refuse  to  approve  a 
private  school  on  account  of  the  religious  teaching  therein. 

If  in  any  town  there  are  children  not  in  the  public  schools, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  school  committee  to  assure  themselves 
that  these  children  are  receiving  instruction  of  the  right  kind, 
and  equal  in  value  to  that  given  in  the  public  schools. 

DUTY  OF  TRUANT  OFFICERS  AND  COMMITTEES. 

SECT.  3.     The  truant  officers  and  the  school  committee  of  the  Truant  offi- 
several  cities  and  towns  shall  vigilantly  inquire  into  all  cases 


of  neglect  of  the  duty  prescribed  in  section  one,  and- ascertain   J?o8®8  °rf0gg°la" 
the  reasons,  if  any,  therefor ;  and  such  truant  officers,  or  any   cation*  etc. 
of  them,   shall,  when  so   directed  by  the   school   committee,   of  courts  and 


prosecute,  in  the  name  of  the  city  or  town,  any  person  liable  to   1873>  279,  §  2. 
the   penalty  provided  for  in   said  section.     Police,   district,   J|^«  ™,  §  j>. 
and  municipal  courts,  trial  justices,  and  judges  of  the  probate 
court,  shall  have  jurisdiction  within  their  respective  counties 
of  the  offences  described  in  section  one. 

WHERE  CHILDREN  MAY  ATTEND  SCHOOL. 

SECT.  4.     All  children  within  the  commonwealth  may  attend   aueifd^where 
the  public  schools  in  the  place  in  which  they  have  their  legal    they  reside, 
residence,  subject  to  the  regulations  prescribed  by  law. 

ADMISSION  TO  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

SECT.  5.     The  school  committee  shall  determine  the  number  ^idhnisshion1to 
and  qualifications  of  the  scholars  to  be  admitted  into  the  high   how  regu- 
school.  a!es.'4i,  §  4. 


60  SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE.  [Chap. 

WHEN  CHILDREN  MAY  ATTEND  ix  ADJOINING  TOWN. 
Children  may        SECT.  6.     Children  living  remote  from  any  public  school  in 
joining  town,    the  town  in  which  they  reside  may  be  allowed  to  attend  the 
mittee'pay  for   public  schools  in  an  adjoining  town,  under  such  regulations 
instruction.       anc|  on  sucn  terms  as  the  school  committees  of  said  towns 

(jr.   S.  41,   §  5. 

agree  upon  and  prescribe;  and  the  school  committee  of  the 
town  in  which  such  children  reside  shall  pay  the  sum  agreed 
upon  out  of  the  appropriations  of  money  raised  in  said  town 
for  the  support  of  schools. 

The  right  of  children  living  in  one  town  to  attend  school  in 
an  adjoining  one,  is  not  a  right  that  can  be  exercised  freely, 
but  is  subject  to  the  consent  of  the  committee  of  the  town  to 
which  the  children  belong,  based  upon  an  agreement  between 
the  committees  of  the  two  towns  concerned.  Nor  can  a  town 
in  its  corporate  capacity  take  action  in  the  matter.  A  custom 
has  prevailed  to  some  extent,  of  allowing  certain  individuals 
named  in  the  warrant,  and  in  the  vote  of  the  town,  to  draw 
their  proportion  of  school  money,  and  pay  the  same  to  an 
adjoining  town.  This  course  is  illegal. 

See  8  Cush.  66,  and  12  Pick.  206. 

MINOR   MAY   ATTEND    WHERE   GUARDIAN  RESIDES. 

Wards,  where       SECT.  7.     Any  minor  under  guardianship,  whose  father  has 
G.  s.  41,  §  6.    died,  may  attend  the  public   schools  of  the  city  or  town  of 
which  his  guardian  is  an  inhabitant. 

Children  may          SECT.  8.     Children  may,  with  the  consent  of   the  school  COm- 
attend  mother  J 

towns  than        mittee  first  obtained,  attend  school  in  cities  and  towns  other 

parents'  real-     than  those  in  which  their  parents  or  guardians  reside;   but 

parents'tmy       when  a  child  resides  in  a  city  or  town  different  from  that  of 

etc.  the  residence  of  the  parent  or  guardian  for  the  sole  purpose  of 

1876, 'ise' §2.'    attending  school  there,  the  parent  or  guardian  of  such   child 

)3  Mass.  104.    ^^  ^  liable  to  pay  such  city  or  town,  for  tuition,  a  sum 

equal  to  the  average  expense  per  scholar  for  such  school  for 

the  period  during  which  the  child  so  attends. 

Towns  and  cities  are  not  authorized  by  law  to  open  their 
schools  to  children  whose  parents  or  guardians  reside  in 
another  State ;  and  if  they  do  so,  no  promise,  expressed  or 
implied,  of  the  parents  or  guardians,  to  pay  for  the  tuition, 
can  be  enforced. 

PUPILS   MUST   BE   VACCINATED. 

Children  to  SECT.  9.     The  school  committee  shall  not  allow  a  child  who 

be  vaccinated. 

G.  8.  41,  §  8.    has  not  been  duly  vaccinated  to  be  admitted  to  or  connected 
with  the  public  schools. 


47.]  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES.  61 


CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES. 

Chapter  198  of  the  Acts  of  1885  provides  that  the  school 
committees  shall  not  allow  any  pupil  to  attend  the  public 
schools  while  any  member  of  the  household  to  which  such 
pupil  belongs  is  sick  of  small-pox,  diphtheria  or  scarlet-fever, 
or  during  a  period  of  two  weeks  after  the  death,  recovery  or 
removal  of  such  sick  person  ;  and  any  pupil  coming  from  such 
household  shall  be  required  to  present,  to  the  teacher  of  the 
school  the  pupil  desires  to  attend,  a  certificate,  from  the  attend- 
ing physician  or  board  of  health,  of  the  facts  necessary  to  en- 
title him  to  admission  in  accordance  with  the  above  regulation. 

COLOR   ETC.,   NOT   TO   EXCLUDE. 

SECT.  10.     No  person  shall  be  excluded  from  a  public  school   Color,  etc., 

,,,  ,  ,,    .  ..  ,,,  ,.      not  to  exclude. 

•on  account  of  the  race,  color,  or  religious  opinions  of  the  appli-   GK  a  41  §  9 
.cant  or  scholar.  12  Allen,  127. 

REASONS  TO  BE  GIVEN  EOR  EXCLUSION. 

SECT.  11.     Every  member  of  the  school  committee   under   Teachers, 
whose  directions  a  child  is  excluded  from  a  public  school,  and   grovndiof 


every  teacher  of  such  school  from  which  a  child  is  excluded,   CKS"*?"!  i0. 
shall,  on  application  by  the  parent  or  guardian  of  such  child, 
.state  in  writing  the  grounds  and  reason  of  the  exclusion. 

DAMAGES  FOR  UNLAWFUL  EXCLUSION.  Damages  for 

exclusion. 

SECT.  12.     A  child  unlawfully  excluded  from  a  public  school  33  pj^'^J1' 

may  recover   damages  therefor  in  an  action   of  tort,  to  be  8  Cush.'ieo.' 

brought  in  the  name  of  such  child  by  his  guardian  or  next  L^He'nfSv. 

friend,  against  the  city  or  town  by  which  such  school  is  sup-  *}J  JfjJJ'  J^J- 

ported.  133  Mass.  103. 

SECT.  13.     The  plaintiff  in  such  action  may,.  by  filing  inter-  interrogate- 

rogatories  for  discovery,  examine  any  member  of  the  school  Sittee.Ttc!" 

committee,  or  any  other  officer  of  the  defendant  city  or  town  G>  s<  41»  §  12< 
as  if  he  were  a  party  to  the  suit. 

The  reasons  for  which  a  child  may  be  excluded  absolutely 
from  school,  neither  are  nor  can  be  expressed  in  the  ISLW. 
Committees  are  responsible  for  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discre- 
tion. 

"  The  school  committee  of  a  city  or  town  have  power,  under 
the  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  in  order  to  maintain  the  purity 
.and  discipline  of  the  public  schools,  to  exclude  therefrom  a 
child  whom  they  deem  to  be  of  a  licentious  and  immoral  char- 


62 


EMPLOYMENT   LAWS. 


[Chap. 


acter,  although  such  character  is  not  manifested  by  any  acts  of 
licentiousness  or  immorality  within  the  school."  8  Gush.  160. 

The  rule  is  this :  The  committees  have  power  to  protect 
the  schools  from  the  presence  of  any  one  whose  influence  would 
be  injurious  to  the  whole,  and  subversive  of  the  purposes  man- 
ifestly contemplated  by  their  establishment. 

A  teacher  may  suspend  a  pupil,  but  he  has  no  authority  to 
expel.  After  suspension,  the  case  should  be  referred  at  once 
to  the  school  committee  for  their  action. 


CHAPTER   48. 

OF  THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  CHILDREN,   AND  REGULATIONS  RESPECT- 
ING THEM. 


SCHOOLING  AND  LIMIT  OF  LABOR  OF 
CHILDREN  EMPLOYED  IN  MANUFACTO- 
RIES, ETC. 

SECTION 

7.  Penalty  for  employment  of  children 
under  fourteen  years,  while    public 
schools  are  in  session,  unless  they 
can  read  and  write. 

8.  Children  under  fifteen  years  not  to  be 
employed  in  circus,  etc.     Penalties. 
Proviso  as  to  education  of  children 
in  music,  etc. 

9.  License  not  to  be  granted  to  public 
show  in  which  children  under  fifteen 
years  of  age  are  employed. 

TRUANT  CHILDREN  AND  ABSENTEES  FROM 
SCHOOL. 

10.  Towns   may  make    provisions    con- 
cerning habitual  truants,  etc. 

11.  Truant  officers  to  be  appointed  by 
school  committees. 

12.  Children  convicted  of  being  truants, 
etc.,  may  lie  committed  for  two  years 
to  institutions  provided  therefor. 

13.  Jurisdiction. 

14.  County    truant    schools    and    union 
county  truant    schools,   how    estab- 
lished, etc. 

15.  Towns  may  assign  truant  schools  or 
state  primary  school  as  places  of  con- 
finement of  truants,  etc. 

16-  Children  committed  may  be  dis- 
charged. 

17.  School  committees  to  report  whether 
the  reqtiired  provisions,  etc.,  'have 
been  made  for  truants. 


CARE    AND    EDUCATION    OF    NEGLECTED 

CHILDREN. 
SECTION 

18.  Towns  -to  make  provisions  for  care 
etc.,  of  neglected  children  under  six- 
teen years. 

19.  to  appoint  persons  to  make  com- 
plaints. 

20.  Children  under  sixteen  years  grow- 
ing   up     without     education,     etc., 
may  be  committed    to    institutions, 
etc. 

21.  Children  may   be    discharged  when 
parents  or  others  can  or  will  properly 
take  care  of  them. 

CARE     AND     PROTECTION     OF      DESTITUTE, 
ABANDONED    AND   ABUSED    CHILDREN. 

22.  Massachusetts  Society  for  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  Children  may  be  ap- 
pointed guardian  of    abandoned  or 
neglected  children. 

may  receive  charge  of  children  un- 


23. 


der 
etc. 


fourteen    years    from     parents, 


24.  may  be  given  custody  of  deserted 
>  children  under  five  years   on    com- 
plaint to  court,  etc. 

25.  not  obliged  to  receive  any  child. 

26.  Hampden    County    Children's    Aid 
Association  may  have  like  privileges, 
etc. 

27.  Powers  of  the  state  board  of  health, 
etc.,  not  limited  by  five    preceding 
sections. 


48.]  EMPLOYMENT   OF   CHILDREN.  63 

The  following  law  relative   to  the  employment  of  children 
forms  chapter  348  of  the  Acts  of  1888  :  — 

AN   ACT  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Court  assembled  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  as  follows :  — 

No  CHILD  UNDER  THIRTEEN  TO  BE  EMPLOYED. 

1.  No  child  under  thirteen  years  of  age  shall  be  employed 
at  any  time  in  any  factory,  workshop  or  mercantile  establish- 
ment.    No  such  child  shall  be  employed  in  any  indoor  work, 
performed  for  wages  or  other  compensation,  to  whomsoever 
payable,  during  the  hours  when  the  public  schools  of  the  city 
or  town  in  which  he  resides  are  in  session,  or  shall  be  employed 
in  any  manner  during  such  hours  unless  during  the  year  next 
preceding  such  employment  he  has  attended  school  for  at  least 
twenty  weeks  as  required  by  law. 

WHEN  CHILDREN  UNDER  FOURTEEN  MAY  BE  EMPLOYED. 

2.  No  child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  shall  be  employed 
in  any  manner  before  the  hour  of  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  or 
after  the  hour  of  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.     No  such  child 
shall  be  employed  in  any  factory,  workshop  or  mercantile  estab- 
lishment, except  during  the  vacation  of  the  public  schools  in 
the  city  or  town  where  he  resides,  unless  the  person  or  corpora- 
tion employing  him  procures  and  keeps  on  file  a  certificate  and 
employment  ticket  for  such  child  as  prescribed  by  section  four 
of  this  act,  and  no  such  child  shall  be  employed  in  any  indoor 
work,  performed  for  wages  or  other  compensation,  to  whom- 
soever payable,  during  the  hours  when  the  public  schools  of 
such  city  or  town  are  in  session,  unless  as  aforesaid,  or  shall 
be  employed  in  any  manner  during  such  hours  unless  during 
the  year  next  preceding  such  employment  he  has  attended 
school  for  at  least  thirty  weeks  as  required  by  law,  provided, 
the  public  schools  are  in  session  that  number  of  weeks,  which 
time  may  be  divided  so  far  as  the  arrangement  of    school 
terms  will  allow  into  three  terms  of  ten  consecutive  weeks 
each,  and  such  employment  shall  not  continue  in  any  case 
beyond  the  time  when  such  certificate  expires.    The  chief  of 
the  district  police,  with  the  approval  of  the  governor,  shall 
have  authority  to  designate  any  kind  or  kinds  of  employment 
in  factories,  workshops  or  mercantile  establishments  as  injuri- 
ous to  the  health  of  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age 
employed  therein,  and  after  one  week's  written  notice  from 
the  said  chief  to  the  employer  or  his  superintendent,  overseer  or 

.  other  agent  of  such  designation  no  such  child  shall  be  employed 
in  any  such  kind  or  kinds  of  employment  in  any  factory,  work- 
shop or  mercantile  establishment. 


04  EMPLOYMENT   LAWS.  [Chap. 

WHEN  CHILDREN  UNDER  SIXTEEN  MAY  BE  EMPLOYED. 

3.  No  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age  shall  be  employed 
in  any  factory,  workshop  or  mercantile  establishment  unless 
the  person  or  corporation  employing  him  procures  and  keeps 
on  file  the  certificate  required  in  the  case  of  such  child  by  the 
following  section,  and  also  keeps  on  file  a  full  and  complete 
list  of  such  children  employed  therein. 

FORM  OF  CERTIFICATE. 

4.  The  certificate  of  a  child  under  fourteen  years  of  age 
shall  not  be  signed  until  he  presents  to  the  person  authorized 
to  sign  the  same  an  employment  ticket,  as  hereinafter  pre- 
scribed, duly  filled  out  and  signed.     The  certificate  and  the 
employment  ticket  shall  be  separately  printed,  and  shall  be  in 
the  following  forms  respectively,  and  the  blanks  therein  shall 
be  filled  out  and  signed  as  indicated  by  the  words  in  brackets  :  — 

EMPLOYMENT  TICKET,  LAW  OF  1888. 

When  [name  of  child] ,  height  [feet  and  inches],  complexion 
[fair  or  dark] ,  hair  [color] ,  presents  a  certificate  duly  signed, 
I  intend  to  employ  [him  or  her] . 

[Signature  of  intending  employer  or  agent  ] 

[Town  or  city  and  state  ] 

AGE  .AND  SCHOOLING  CERTIFICATE,  LAW  OF  1888. 

This  certifies  that  I  am  the  [father,  mother  or  guardian]  of 
[name  of  child],  and  that  [he  or  she]  was  born  at  [name  of 
town  or  city],  in  the  county  of  [name  of  county,  if  known], 
and  state  [or  country]  of  '[name] ,  on  the  [day  and  year  of 
birth],  and  is  now  [number  of  years  and  months]  old. 

[Signature  of  father,  mother  or  guardian.] 

[Town  or  city  and  date  ] 

Then  personally  appeared  before  me  the  above  named  [name 
of  person  signing]  and  made  oath  that  the  foregoing  certificate 
by  [him  or  her]  signed  is  true  to  the  best  of  [his  or  her] 
knowledge  and  belief.  I  hereby  approve  the  foregoing  certifi- 
cate of  [name  of  child],  height  [feet  and  inches],  complexion 
[fair  or  dark],  hair  [color],  having  no  sufficient  reason  to 
doubt  that  [he  or  she]  is  of  the  age  therein  certified. 

[Signature  of  person  authorized  to  sign,  with  official  char- 
acter or  authority.] 

[Town  or  city  and  date  ] 

In  case  the  age  of  the  child  is  under  fourteen,  the  certificate 
shall  continue  as  follows,  after  the  word  "  certified  "  :  —  And  I 
hereby  certify  that  [he  or  she]  can  read  at  sight,  and  can  write 
legibly,  simple  sentences  in  the  English  language,  and  that 
[he  or  she]  has  attended  the  [name]  public  [or  private]  day 
school  according  to  law  for  [number  of  weeks,  which  must  be 
at  least  twenty]  weeks  during  the  year  next  preceding  this 
date,  and  that  the  last  twenty  weeks  of  such  attendance  began 
[date].  This  certificate  expires  [date,  one  year  later  than 
above  date  ] 

[Signature  of  the  person  authorized  to  sign,  with  official 
character  or  authority.] 


48.]  CERTIFICATES.  65 

If  attendance  has  been  at  a  private  school,  also  signature  of 
&  teacher  of  such  school,  followed  bywords,  —  certifying  to 
school  attendance. 

[Town  or  city  and  date.] 

In  case  a  child  cannot  read  and  write  as  above  stated,  the 
following  may  be  substituted  for  the  clause  beginning  "  and  I 
hfii'fibv  «f»rHf  v "  throno-h  to  ami  im>lnHinrr  tlm  Ax/v^W!  "l.i» 


hereby  certify "  through  to  and  including  the  word  "  lan- 
guage1': "and  I  hereby  certify  that  [he  or  she]  is  a  regular 
attendant  at  the  [name]  public  evening  school " ;  but  in  such 
case  the  certificate  shall  only  continue  in  force  for  as  long  a 
time  as  attendance  of  such  child  at  such  evening  school  is  en- 
dorsed weekly  during  the  session  of  such  evening  school,  not 
exceeding  the  length  of  the  public  school  year  minus  twenty 
weeks  in  place  of  attendance  at  day  school  as  now  provided 
by  law,  with  a  statement  from  a  teacher  thereof  certifying  that 
his  attendance  continues  regular.  If  attendance  has  been  at 
a  half-time  school,  forty  weeks  of  such  attendance  must  be  cer- 
tified to  instead  of  twenty.  The  foregoing  certificate  must  be 
filled  out  in  duplicate,  and  one  copy  thereof  shall  be  kept  on 
file  by  the  second  school  committee.  Any  explanatory  matter 
may  be  printed  with  such  certificate  in  the  discretion  of  the 
.school  committee  or  superintendent  of  schools. 

Chapter  299  of  the  Acts  of  1890  provides  that  all  the  certifi- 
cates issued  under  this  section  shall  contain  the  words,  "  This 
certificate  belongs  to  the  person  in  whose  behalf  it  has  been 
•drawn,  and  it  shall  be  surrendered  to  (him  or  her)  whenever 
(he  or  she)  leaves  the  service  of  the  corporation  or  employer 
holding  the  same  ;  and  any  such  corporation  or  employer  refus- 
ing to  so  deliver  the  same  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  ten 
dollars,"  and  that  any  corporation  or  employer  holding  any 
age  or  schooling  certificate  enumerated  in  this  section  and 
refusing  to  deliver  the  same  to  the  person  in  whose  behalf  it 
has  been  drawn,  when  such  person  shall  leave  the  employ  of 
said  corporation  or  employer,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of 
ten  dollars. 


WHO   SHALL   SIGN   CERTIFICATES. 

5.  In  cities  and  towns  having  a  superintendent  of  schools, 
said  certificate  shall  be  signed  only  by  such  superintendent,  or 
by  some  person  authorized  by  him  in  writing ;  in  other  cities 
and  towns  it  shall  be  signed  by  some  member  or  members  of 
the  school  committee  authorized  by  vote  thereof:  provided, 
however,  that  no  member  of  a  school  committee,  or  other 
person  authorized  as  aforesaid,  shall  have  authority  to  sign 
such  certificate  for  any  child  then  in,  or  about  to  enter,  his  own 
employment,  or  the  employment  of  a  firm  of  which  he  is  a 
member,  or  of  a  corporation  of  which  he  is  an  officer  or 
employee.  The  person  signing  the  certificate  shall  have 
authority  to  administer  the  oath  provided  for  therein,  but  no 
fee  shall  be  charged  therefor ;  such  oath  may  also  be  admin- 
istered by  any  justice  of  the  peace. 


66  EMPLOYMENT   LAWS.  [Chap, 


WHO  MAY  SIGN  CERTIFICATES  OF  AGE. 

6.  The  certificate  as  to  the  birthplace  and  age  of  a  child 
shall  be  signed  by  his  father  if  living  and  a  resident  of  the 
same  city  or  town ;  if  not,  by  his  mother ;  or  if  his  mother  is 
not  living,  or  if  living  is  not  a  resident  of  the  same  city  or 
town,  by  his   guardian ;  if  a  child  has   no  father,  mother  or 
guardian  living  in  the  same  city  or  town,  his  own  signature  to 
the  certificate  may  be  accepted  by  the  person  authorized  to 
approve  the  same. 

PROVISIONS  AS  TO  CORRECT  AGE. 

7.  [As  amended  by  chapter  291  of  the  Acts  of  1889.]     No 
child  who  has  been  continuously  a  resident  of  a  city  or  town 
since  reaching  the  age  of  thirteen  years  shall  be  entitled  to 
receive  a  certificate  that  he  has  reached  the  age  of  fourteen 
unless  or  until  he  has  attended  school  according  to  law  in  such 
city  or  town  for  at  least  twenty  weeks  since  reaching  the  age 
of  thirteen,  unless   such   child  can  read  at   sight   and  write 
legibly  simple  sentences  in  the  English  language  or  is  exempted 
by  law  from  such  attendance.     Before  signing  the  approval  of 
the  certificate  of  age  of  a  child,  the  person  authorized  to  sign 
the  same  shall  refer  to  the  last  school  census  taken  under  the 
provisions  of  section  three  of  chapter  forty-six  of  the  Public 
Statutes,  and  if  the  name  of  such  child  is  found  thereon,  and 
there  is  a  material  difference  between  his  age  as  given  therein 
and  as  given  by  his  parent  or  guardian  in  the  certificate,  allow- 
ing for  lapse  of  time,  or  if  such  child  plainly  appears  to  be  of 
materially  less  age  than  that  so  given,  then  such  certificate 
shall  not  be  signed  until  a  copy  of  the  certificate  of  birth  or  of 
baptism   of  such  child,  or  a  copy  of  the   register  of  its  birth 
with   a  town  or  city  clerk,  has  been  produced,  or  other  satis- 
factory evidence  furnished  that  such  child  is  of  the  age  stated 
in  the  certificate. 

DUTIES  OF  TRUANT  OFFICERS  AND  FACTORY  INSPECTORS. 

8.  The  truant  officers  may,  when  so  authorized  and  required 
by  vote  of  the  school  committee,  visit  the  factories,  workshops 
and  mercantile  establishments  in  their  several  cities  and  towns, 
and  ascertain  whether  any  children  under  the  age  of  fourteen 
are  employed  therein  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and 
they  shall  report  any  cases  of  such  illegal  employment  to  the 
school  committee  and  to  the  chief  of  the  district  police  or  the 
inspector  of  factories  for  the  district.      The  inspectors  of  fac- 
tories, and  the  truant  officers  when  authorized  as  aforesaid,  may 
demand  the  names  of  all  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age 
employed  in  such  factories,  workshops  and  mercantile  estab- 
lishments, and  may  require  that  the  certificates  and  lists  of 
such  children  provided  for  in  this  act  shall  be  produced  for 


48.]  DUTIES    OF   PARENTS.  67 

their  inspection.  Such  truant  officers  shall  enquire  into  the 
employment  otherwise  than  in  such  factories,  workshops  and 
mercantile  establishments,  of  children  under  the  age  of  four- 
teen years,  during  the  hours  when  the  public  schools  are  in 
session,  and  may  require  that  the  aforesaid  certificates  of  all 
children  under  sixteen  shall  be  produced  for  their  inspection  ; 
and  any  such  officer  or  any  inspector  of  factories,  may  bring 
a  prosecution  against  a  person  or  corporation  employing  any 
such  child,  otherwise  than  as  aforesaid,  during  the  hours  when 
the  public  schools  are  in  session,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  if  such  employment  still  continues  one  week  after 
written  notice  from  such  officer  or  inspector  that  such  prosecu- 
tion will  be  brought,  or  if  more  than  one  such  written  notice, 
whether  relating  to  the  same  child  or  to  any  other  child,  has 
been  given  to  such  employer  by  a  truant  officer  or  inspector  of 
factories  at  any  time  within  one  year. 

DUTIES  OF  PARENTS,  GUARDIANS  AND  EMPLOYEES. 

9.  Every  parent  or  guardian   of  a  child  under  fourteen 
years  of  age  who  permits  any  employment  of  such  child  con- 
trary to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  every  owner,  superin- 
tendent or  overseer  of   any  factory,  workshop  or  mercantile 
establishment  who  employs  or  permits  to  be  employed  therein 
any  child  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  any  other 
person  who  employs  any  child  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
this    act,  shall   for  every  such  offence  forfeit  not  less  than 
twenty  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars  for  the  use  of  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  or  town.    Every  parent,  guardian,  or  person 
authorized  to  sign  the  certificate  prescribed  by  section  four  of 
this  act,  who  certifies  to  any  materially  false  statement  therein, 
shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars,  or  by  im- 
prisonment not  exceeding  thirty  days,  or  by  both  such  fine  and 
imprisonment        A  failure  to   produce  to  a  truant  officer  or 
inspector  of  factories  the  certificate  required  by  the  provisions 
of  this  act  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  illegal  employ- 
ment of  the  child  whose  certificate  is  not  produced. 

10.  The  expressions  "  factory  "  and  "  workshop  "  used   in 
this  act  shall  have  the  meanings  defined  for  them  respectively 
by  chapter  one  hundred  and  three  of  the  acts  of  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty  seven. 

11.  Within  one  month  of  the  passage  of  this  act  the  chief 
of  the  district  police  shall  cause  a  printed  copy  thereof  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  school  committee  of  every  city  and  town  in 
the  Commonwealth. 

12.  Sections  one  to   six,  inclusive,  of  chapter  forty-eight 
of  the  Public  Statutes,  chapter  two  hundred  and  twenty-four 
of  the  acts   of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
chapter  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  of  the  acts  of  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  section  one  of  chapter 


68 


EMPLOYMENT   LAWS. 


[Chap. 


Children  un- 
der fourteen 
years  not  to 
be  employed 
while  public 
schools  are  in 
session, unless 
they  can  read 
and  write. 
Penalty. 
1878,  257,  §  4. 


four  hundred  and  thirty-three  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  are  hereby  repealed. 

13.  This  act  shall  take  effect  on  the  first  day  of  July  in  the 
year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight.  [Approved 
May  17, 1888]. 

PENALTY  FOR  EMPLOYING  CHILDREN  UNDER  FOURTEEN  WHO 

CANNOT  READ  AND  WRITE. 

SECT.  7.  Every  owner,  superintendent,  or  overseer  in  any 
such  establishment,  who  employs,  or  permits  to  be  employed 
therein,  a  child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  who  cannot  read 
and  write,  while  the  public  schools  in  the  city  or  town  where 
such  child  lives  are  in  session,  and  every  parent  or  guardian 
who  permits  such  employment,  shall  for  every  such  offence  for- 
feit not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars,  for  the  use 
of  the  public  schools  of  such  city  or  town. 


under  fifteen 
years  not  to  be 
employed  in 
circus,  etc. 
Penalties. 
Proviso  as  to 
education  of 
children  in 
music,  etc. 
1877,  172. 


License  not  to 
be  granted  for 
public  show 
in  which  chil- 
dren under 
fifteen  years 
are  employed. 
1874,  279. 
1880,  88 


CHILDREN  UNDER  FIFTEEN  NOT  TO  BE  EMPLOYED  IN 

CIRCUSES,  ETC. 

SECT.  8.  Any  person  who  employs  or  exhibits,  or  who  sells, 
apprentices,  or  gives  away  for  the  purpose  of  employing  or 
exhibiting,  a  child  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  in  dancing,  play- 
ing on  musical  instruments,  singing,  walking  on  a  wire  or 
rope,  or  riding  or  performing  as  a  gymnast,  contortionist,  or 
acrobat,  in  any  circus  or  theatrical  exhibition,  or  in  any  public 
place  whatsoever,  or  who  causes,  procures,  or  encourages  any 
such  child  to  engage  therein,  shall  be  punished  by  fine  not 
exceeding  two  hundred  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  in  the 
county  jail  not  exceeding  six  months  :  provided,  that  nothing 
in  this  section  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the  education  of 
children  in  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  or  their  employment 
as  musicians  in  any  church,  chapel,  or  school,  or  school  exhibi- 
tion, or  to  prevent  their  taking  part  in  any  concert  or  musical 
exhibition  on  the  special  written  permission  of  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  of  a  city  or  of  the  selectmen  of  a  town. 

LICENSES  NOT  TO  BE  GRANTED  FOR  SHOWS  WHICH  EMPLOY 

CHILDREN  UNDER  FIFTEEN. 

SECT.  9.  No  license  shall  be  granted  for  a  theatrical  exhi- 
bition or  public  show  in  which  children  under  fifteen  years  of 
age  are  employed  as  acrobats,  contortionists,  or  in  any  feats  of 
gymnastics  or  equestrianism,  or  in  which  such  children  belong- 
ing to  the  public  schools  are  employed,  or  allowed  to  take  part 
as  performers  on  the  stage  in  any  capacity,  or  where,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  board  authorized  to  grant  licenses,  such  children 
are  employed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  corrupt  their  morals  or 
impair  their  physical  health ;  but  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  prevent  the  giving  of  special  permission  as  provided  by 
the  preceding  section. 


48.]  TRUANT   CHILDREN.  69 


TRTJANT  CHILDREN  AND  ABSENTEES  FROM  SCHOOL. 

SECT.  10.     [As   amended    by  chapter  249   Acts  of    1889.] 
Each  town  shall  make  all  needful  provisions  and  arrangements   ions  concern- 
concerning  habitual  truants  and  children  between  seven  and  Jruanuuetc! 
fifteen  years  of  age  who  may  be  found  wandering  about  in  the   J|^>  2J2,  §  1. 
streets  or  public  places  therein,  having  no  lawful  occupation 
or  business,  not  attending  school,  and  growing  up  in  ignorance, 
and  such  children  as  persistently  violate  the  reasonable  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  common  schools ;  and  shall  make  such 
by-laws  as  shall  be  most  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  such 
children,  and  to  the  good  order  of  such  town ;  and  shall  pro- 
vide   suitable    places    for    the    confinement,   discipline,    and 
instruction  of  such  children :   such  by-laws  may  be  approved 
by  the  judge  of  the  probate  court  of  the  county,  as  well  as  in 
the  manner  provided  for  the  approval  of  other  by-laws  by 
section  twenty-one  of  chapter  twenty-seven. 


FORM  OF  BY-LAWS. 

This  form  of  by-laws  has  been  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Education,  and  is  given  here  simply  as  a  suitable  form  to  be 
adopted  by  the  towns. 

BY-LAWS. 

ARTICLE  1.  The  town  of hereby  avails  itself  of  the  several 

provisions  of  the  statutes  of  this  Commonwealth,  now  in  force,  relating  to 
habitual  truants  and  absentees  from  school,  and  in  pursuance  of  authority 
conferred  thereby  adopts  the  following  by-laws. 

ARTICLE  2.  All  children  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fifteen  years 
residing  in  said  town,  and  who  may  be  found  wandering  about  in  the 
streets  or  public  places  of  said  town,  having  no  lawful  occupation  or  busi- 
ness, not  attending  school,  and  growing  up  in  ignorance,  shall  be  committed 
to for  confinement,  instruction  and  discipline. 

ARTICLE  3.  Two  or  more  truant  officers  shall  be  appointed  annually, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  inquire  into  all  the  violations  of  the  truant  laws 
and  of  the  law  relating  to  compulsory  education,  and  to  do  all  the  acts 
required  of  them  by  the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth. 

ARTICLE  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  every  truant  officer,  previous  to 
making  any  complaint  under  these  laws,  to  notify  the  truant  or  absentee 
frcm  school,  also  his  parent  or  guardian,  of  the  offence  committed,  and  of 
the  penalty  therefor,  and  if  the  truant  officer  can  obtain  satisfactory  pledges 
for  the  restraint  and  reformation  of  the  child,  he  may  at  his  discretion 
forbear  to  prosecute,  so  long  as  such  pledges  are  faithfully  kept. 

ARTICLE  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  school  committee,  the  teachers 
of  the  public  schools,  and  the  citizens  generally  to  aid  the  truant  officers 
as  far  as  possible  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 


70 


TRUANT    CHILDREN. 


[Chap. 


ARTICLE  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  truant  officers  to  keep  a  full 
record  of  all  their  official  acts,  and  make  an  annual  report  thereof  to  the 
school  committee,  who  shall  publish  the  same  with  their  own  report. 

ARTICLE  7.  Nothing  in  these  by-laws  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  alter 
or  impair  the  obligation  and  duty  of  teachers  to  enforce  punctuality  and 
regularity  of  attendance,  and  to  preserve  good  order  and  discipline. 


Truant  offi- 
cer to  be 
appointed  by 
school  com- 
mittees. 

1873,  262,  §  2. 

1874,  233,  §  2. 


SCHOOL  COMMITTEE  TO  APPOINT  TRUANT  OFFICERS. 

SECT.  11.  The  school  committee  of  each  town  shall  appoint 
and  fix  the  compensation  of  two  or  more  suitable  persons,  to 
be  designated  truant  officers,  who  shall,  under  the  direction  of 
said  committee,  inquire  into  all  cases  arising  under  such  by- 
laws, and  shall  alone  be  authorized,  in  case  of  violation  thereof, 
to  make  complaint  and  carry  into  execution  the  judgment 
thereon ;  and  who  may  serve  all  legal  processes  issued  by  the 
courts  in  pursuance  of  such  by-laws  or  of  sections  ten  to  six- 
teen inclusive,  but  who  shall  not  be  entitled  to  receive  any  fees 
for  such  service. 

Chap.  422  of  the  Acts  of  1889  provides  that  truant  officers 
in  cities  and  towns  are  hereby  authorized,  under  the  direction 
of  the  school  committees  of  their  respective  cities  and  towns, 
to  apprehend  and  take  to  school  without  warrant  all  truants 
found  wandering  about  in  the  streets  or  public  places. 

TRUANTS  MAY  BE  COMMITTED  FOR  Two  YEARS. 

SECT.  12.  [As  amended  by  chap.  249,  Acts  of  1889.]  Any 
minor  convicted  under  a  by-law  made  under  section  ten  of 
being  an  habitual  truant,  or  of  wandering  about  in  the  streets 
and  public  places  of  a  city  or  town,  having  no  lawful  employ- 
ment or  business,  not  attending  school,  and  growing  up  in 
ignorance,  or  of  persistently  violating  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions of  the  common  schools,  shall  be  committed  to  any  insti- 
tution of  instruction  or  suitable  situation  provided  for  the  pur- 
pose, under  the  authority  of  said  section  or  by-law,  for  a  term 
not  exceeding  two  years. 


The  following  sections,  13  and  14,  are  substituted  for  those 
in  the  Public  Statutes  by  chap.  309  of  the  Acts  of  1890  :  — 


Minors  con- 
victed  of 
being  truants, 
etc.,  may  be 
committed  lor 
two  years  to 
institution 
provided 
therefor. 
1873,  262,  §  3. 


Jurisdiction. 
1873,  262,  §  4. 
1890,  309. 


COUNTY  TRUANT  SCHOOLS. 

SECT.  13.  Whenever  a  truant  school  has  been  established 
for  any  county  under  the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  it  shall  be 
the  place  of  confinement,  discipline  and  instruction  for  all 
truants  within  the  cities  or  towns  of  said  county,  unless  said 
cities  or  towns  have  made  other  provisions  therefor;  and 
police,  district,  or  municipal  courts,  trial  justices  and  probate 
courts,  shall  have  jurisdiction,  within  their  respective  counties, 


48.]  TRUANT    SCHOOLS.  71 

of  the  offences  described  in  sections  ten  and  twelve  and  all  acts 
in  amendment  thereof  and  in  addition  thereto  ;  and  may  com- 
mit truants  to  such  truant  school  or  union  truant  school  as  may 
be  established  for  their  respective  counties  under  the  provisions 
of  this  chapter. 

SECT.  14.  If  three  or  more  towns  in  any  county  so  require,  us  Mass.  148. 
the  county  commissioners  shall  establish  at  the  expense  of  the 
county,  at  a  convenient  place  therein,  other  than  the  jail  or 
house  of  correction,  a  truant  school  for  the  confinement,  dis- 
cipline and  instruction  of  minor  children  convicted  under  the 
provisions  of  sections  ten  and  twelve  and  all  acts  in  amend- 
ment thereof  and  in  addition  thereto  ;  and  shall  make  suitable 
provisions  for  the  government  and  control  and  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  proper  teachers  and  officers  thereof.  But  the  county 
commissioners  of  two,  three  or  four  contiguous  counties  may, 
and  if  three  or  more  cities  or  towns  in  each  of  such  counties 
require,  shall,  at  the  expense  of  said  counties,  establish  for 
said  counties  at  a  convenient  place  therein  a  union  truant 
school,  to  be  organized  and  controlled  by  the  chairman  of  the 
county  C9mmissioners  of  said  counties  in  the  manner  provided 
for  the  government  and  control  of  county  truant  schools  by 
county  commissioners  ;  and  any  county  so  uniting  with  another 
county  or  counties  in  the  support  of  a  union  truant  school  shall 
not  be  required  to  support  a  truant  school  of  its  own. 

By  section  10,  chapter  48,  each  town  is  required  to  make  all 
needful  provisions  concerning  truants.  This  includes  pro- 
viding a  suitable  place  for  their  confinement,  instruction,  etc. 
By  section  14,  chapter  48,  if  three  or  more  towns  of  any 
county  petition  the  county  commissioners,  they  shall  establish 
a  truant  school  to  which  all  the  towns  may  send  their  truant 
children.  Provision  is  also  made  for  union  truant  schools  to  be 
established  by  two,  three  or  four  counties.  It  is  all-important 
to  the  towns  that  the  children  who  are  inclined  to  truancy 
should  be  collected  into  well-organized  schools  and  kept  there 
the  full  time  fixed  by  the  statute,  or  until  they  have  reformed. 

WHAT  PLACES  OF  CONFINEMENT  TOWNS  MAY  ASSIGN. 
SECT.  15.    A  town  may  assign  any  such  truant  school,  or,  Towns  may 
with  the  assent  of  the  state  board  of  health,  lunacy  and  charity, 
the  state  primary  school,  as  the  place  of  confinement,  disci- 
pline,  and  instruction  of  children  so  convicted ;  and  shall  pay  truants,  etc. 
for  their  support  therein  such  sum,  not  exceeding  two  dollars  i879,'|?v§8ii. 
a  week  for  each  child,  as  the  county  commissioners  or  the 
trustees  of  the  state  primary*  and  reform  schools  respectively 
.shall  determine. 

*  Truants  not  now  admitted  to  State  Primary  School. 


72  TRUANT   LAWS.  [Chap. 

Transfer  of  Chapter  62  of  the  Acts  of  1892  provides  that  the  school  corn- 

children  from 
town  to  county  mittee  ot  any  city  or  town  in  any  county  or  counties  where  a 

1892,D628,C§  i?ls*  union  or  county  truant  school  has  been  or  shall  hereafter  be 
established,  may,  with  the  approval  of  the  court  making  the 
original  commitment  and  with  the  consent  of  the  county  com- 
missioners of  the  county  in  which  such  truant  school  is 
established,  cause  all  persons  confined  in  the  truant  or  farm 
school  in  such  city  or  town,  when  such  farm  school  is  a  truant, 
school,  to  be  removed  to  such  union  or  county  truant  school 
to  complete  the  term  for  which  they  were  originally  com- 
mitted, subject  however  to  the  provisions  of  law  as  to  release 
before  the  expiration  of  such  term. 

How  CHILDREN  COMMITTED  MAY  BE  DISCHARGED. 

SHtedema0lbe       SECT-  16-     Children   so  committed  may,  upon  satisfactory 
discharged.       proof  of  amendment,  or  for  other  sufficient  cause,  be  discharged 
7. '  '      '       '   from  the  state  primary  school  by  said  state  board,  and  from 
other  places  of  confinement  by  the  judge  or  justice  who  com- 
mitted them. 

REPORTS  RELATIVE  TO  COMPLIANCE  WITH  TRUANT  LAW. 

(school  cora- 

poTwhe0ther  SECT-  17-    The  school  committees  of  the  several  towns  shall 

hlvl'beee  annually  report  to   the  secretary  of  the  board  of  education 

made  for  whether  their  towns  have  made  the  provisions  required  by  law 

i878°234,e§C2.  relating  to  truants  and  absentees  from  school. 

PENALTY  FOR  EMPLOYING  TRUANTS. 

Chapter  71  of  the  Acts  of  1885  provides  that  whoever,  after 
notice  from  a  truant  officer  to  refrain  from  so  doing,  offers  a 
reward  for  service  to  any  child  in  consequence  of  which  reward 
such  child  is  induced  unlawfully  to  absent  himself  from  school, 
or  whoever  after  notice  as  aforesaid  in  any  manner  entices  or 
induces  any  child  to  truancy,  or  whoever  knowingly  employ* 
or  harbors  any  unlawful  absentee  from  school,  or  truant,  shall 
forfeit  not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars  to  the 
use  of  the  public  schools  of  the  city  or  town  in  which  said 
offence  occurs,  to  be  recovered  by  complaint. 

CARE  AND  EDUCATION  OF  NEGLECTED  CHILDREN. 

Towns  to  SECT.  18.     Each  town  may,  and  every  town  containing  five- 

for  care,   thousand  or  more  inhabitants,  shall,  make  all   needful  provi- 
sions   and  arrangements   concerning   children  under  sixteen 
dren  under       years  of  ap:e,  who,  by  reason  of  the  neglect,  crime,  drunken- 

eixteen  years.    J  J 

1866,  283,  §  i.    ness,  or  other  vices  of  parents,  or  from  orphanage,  are  suffered 

1Sfi7    *?    &  1 

1878^  217,  §  i.     to  be  growing  up  without  salutary  parental  control  and  educa- 


48.]  COMPLAINTS.  73 

tion,  or  in  circumstances  exposing  them  to  lead  idle  and  disso- 
lute lives  ;  and  may  also  make  all  such  by-laws  respecting  such 
children  as  shall  be  deemed  most  conducive  to  their  welfare 
and  to  the  good  order  of  the  city  or  town. 


WHO    SHALL   MAKE    COMPLAINTS. 

SECT.  19.     The  selectmen  of  towns  containing  five  thousand    Towns  to  ap- 
or  more  inhabitants,  and  of  other  towns  availing  themselves  of   Fo*  makecom* 
the  provisions   of  sections   eighteen  to  twenty-one,  inclusive,    isSe^lsa,  §  2. 
shall  appoint  suitable  persons  to  make  complaints  of  violations    1878>  217>  §  2> 
of  by-laws  adopted  under  the  preceding  section  ;  and  the  per- 
sons so  appointed,  and  the  officers  and  duly  appointed  agents 
of  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children,  shall  alone  be  authorized  to  make  such  complaints  ; 
and  the  persons  so  appointed  shall  alone  be  authorized  to  make 
complaints  under  the  following  section. 

Chapter  245  of  the  Acts  of  1883  amends  the  above  section 
by  inserting  in  the  eighth  line  thereof,  after  the  word  * <  com- 
plaints," the  words  "and  carry  into  execution  the  judgments 
thereon." 

CHILDREN  GROWING  UP  WITHOUT  EDUCATION  MAY  BE 
COMMITTED. 

SECT.  20.    A  judge  of  the  superior  court,  or  of  a  police,  dis-  Children  un- 

trict,  or  municipal  court,  or  a  trial  justice,  upon  proof  that  any  yea™  growing: 

child  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  by  reason  of  orphanage,  or  "^.j^111 

of  the  neglect,  crime,  drunkenness,  or  other  vice  of  parents,  is  etc..  may  be 

,       ,  .,  T  A  T     .      ....    7.  »  .         committed  to 

so  growing  up,  may  order  such  child  to  such  institution  of  in-  institutions, 
struction,  or  other  place  assigned  for  the  purpose,  as  may  be   S,  283,  §3. 
provided  under  section  eighteen,  by  the  town  in  which  such 
child  resides,  to  be  there  kept,  educated,  and  cared  for,  for  a 
term  not  extending  beyond  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  for 
boys,  or  eighteen  years  for  girls. 


WHEN  SUCH  CHILDREN  MAY  BE  DISCHARGED. 

SECT.  21.     When  the  parents  of  a  child  committed  under  the  Children  un- 
preceding  section  have  reformed  and  are  leading  orderly  and 
industrious  lives,  and  are  in  a  condition  to  exercise  salutary 

parental  control  over  such  child,  and  to  provide  him   with  cation  .etc., 

proper  education  and  employment,  or  when,  said  parents  being  SSged  when 

dead,  any  person  offers  to  make  such  suitable  provision  for  the  JgJJJJJJ^ 

care  nurture    and  education  of  such  child  as  will  conduce  to  will  properly 

take  care  of 

the  public  welfare,  and  will  give  security  lor  the  performance  them. 

of  the  same  satisfactory  to  the  directors,  trustees,  overseers,  or  1866)  283>  §  4' 


74 


ABANDONED    CHILDREN. 


[Chap. 


other  board  having  charge  of  the  institution  to  which  such 
child  is  committed,  they  may  discharge  him  to  the  parents  or 
to  such  other  person. 


Massachusetts 
Society  for 
Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to 
Children  may 
be  appointed 
guardian  of 
abandoned  or 
neglected 
children. 
1879,  179,  §  1.    . 


may  receive 
charge  of 
children  un- 
der fourteen 
years  from 
parents,  etc. 
1879,  179,  §  2. 


may  be 
given  custody 
of  deserted 
children  under 
five  years  on 
complaint  to 
court,  etc. 
1879,  179,  §  3. 


Said  society 
not  obliged  to 
receive  any 
child. 

1879, 179,  §  4. 
Hampden 
County  Chil- 
dren's AidAs- 
sociation  may 
have  like  priv- 
ileges, etc. 
1880,  231. 

Five  preced- 
ing sections 
not  to  limit 
powers  of 
state  board  of 
health,  etc. 
1880,  231. 


CARE   AND   PROTECTION   OF   DESTITUTE,   ABANDONED,  AND 
ABUSED  CHILDREN. 

SECT.  22.  The  judge  of  the  probate  court  of  any  county, 
when  it  appears  that  a  minor  under  fourteen  years  of  age  resi- 
dent therein  is  without  a  guardian,  and  is  entirely  abandoned, 
or  treated  with  gross  and  habitual  cruelty,  by  the  parent  or 
other  person  having  the  care  or  custody  of  him,  or  is  illegally 
deprived  of  liberty,  may  appoint  as  his  guardian  the  Massa- 
chusetts Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  for 
such  period  as  seems  fit  to  the  judge ;  and  said  society  shall 
thereupon  become  entitled  to  the  custody  of  such  child  to  the 
exclusion  of  any  other  person,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to  his 
property.  Said  judge  may  at  any  time,  for  good  cause,  revoke 
such  appointment. 

SECT.  23.  The  parents,  surviving  parent,  or  guardian  of  a 
child  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  if  unable  to  support  him, 
may  by  an  agreement  in  writing,  signed,  and  fixing  the  terms 
of  the  custody,  place  him  in  the  charge  of  said  society,  which 
shall  thereupon  have  custody  of  him  as  provided  in  the  pre- 
ceding section. 

SECT.  24.  Upon  the  complaint  of  said  society  that  a  child 
under  five  years  of  age  has  been  abandoned  and  deserted  in  a 
street  or  public  place,  or  in  a  vacant  building,  a  judge  of  any 
court,  within  his  jurisdiction,  may  give  the  custody  of  such 
child  for  a  period  not  exceeding  thirty  days  to  said  society ; 
which  shall  thereupon  give  notice  thereof,  under  the  direction 
of  said  judge,  by  advertisement  in  some  newspaper  published 
in  the  county  where  such  child  is  found ;.  and  such  child,  if 
claimed  by  its  parents,  parent  or  guardian,  may  be  returned  to 
them  by  said  judge. 

SECT.  25.  Nothing  in  the  three  preceding  sections  shall  be 
construed  to  oblige  said  society  to  receive  the  custody  of  any 
child. 

SECT.  26.  In  Hampden  county  the  provisions  of  the  four 
preceding  sections  shall  in  all  respects  be  applicable  to  the 
Hampden  County  Children's  Aid  Association  in  like  manner  as 
to  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children. 

SECT.  27.  Nothing  contained  in  the  five  preceding  sections 
shall  be  deemed  to  limit  the  powers  of  the  state  board  of 
health,  lunacy,  and  charity. 


48.]  DISTURBING   SCHOOLS.  75 

PENALTY  FOR  DISTURBING  SCHOOLS. 

* '  Whoever  wilfully  interrupts  or  disturbs  a  school  or  other 
assembly  of  people  met  for  a  lawful  purpose,  shall  be  punished 
by  imprisonment  in  the  jail  not  exceeding  thirty  days,  or  by  fine 
not  exceeding  fifty  dollars."  Pub.  Stat.,  sect.  23,  chap.  207. 

This  statute  includes  meetings  assembled  for  the  discussion 
of  the  subject  of  temperance ;  and  also,  it  seems,  political 
gatherings,  meetings  for  amusement  and  all  public  meetings 
held  for  lawful  purposes.  1  Gray,  476. 

IMPROPER  LITERATURE. 

Chap.  70  of  the  Acts  of  1890  provides  that  whoever  imports; 
prints,  publishes,  sells,  or  distributes  a  book,  pamphlet,  ballad, 
printed  paper,  or  other  thing  containing  obscene,  indecent,  or 
impure  language,  or  manifestly  tending  to  the  corruption  of 
the  morals  of  youth,  or  an  obscene,  indecent,  or  impure  print, 
picture,  figure,  or  description,  manifestly  tending  to  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  morals  of  youth,  or  introduces  into  a  family, 
school,  or  place  of  education,  or  buys,  procures,  receives,  or 
has  in  his  possession  any  such  book,  pamphlet,  ballad,  printed 
paper,  or  other  thing,  either  for  the  purpose  of  sale,  exhibition, 
loan,  or  circulation,  or  with  intent  to  introduce  the  same  into  a 
family,  school,  or  place  of  education,  shall  be  punished  by 
imprisonment  in  the  state  prison  not  exceeding  five  years,  or 
by  imprisonment  in  the  jail  not  exceeding  two  years,  and  by 
fine  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars  nor  less  than  one  hun- 
dred dollars. 

No  LIQUOR  TO   BE    SOLD  WITHIN   FOUR   HUNDRED  FEET  or 

SCHOOL  BUILDING. 

"  No  license  of  the  first,  second  or  third  class,  under  the 
provisions  of  chapter  one  hundred  of  the  Public  Statutes,  shall 
be  granted  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  in  any  building 
or  place  on  the  same  street  within  four  hundred  feet  of  any 
building  occupied  in  whole  or  in  part  by  a  public  school." 
Chap.  220,  Acts  of  1882. 

MALICIOUS  INJURY  TO  BUILDINGS. 

[Pub.  Stats  ,  chap.  203.] 

SECT.  78.  Whoever  wilfully  and  maliciously  or  wantonly 
and  without  cause  destroys,  defaces,  mars  or  injures  a  school- 
house,  church  or  other  building  erected  or  used  for  purposes 
of  education  or  religious  instruction,  or  for  the  general  diffu- 


76  INJURY   TO   BUILDINGS.  [June, 

sion  of  knowledge,  or  an  outbuilding,  fence,  well  or  appur- 
tenance of  such  school-house,  church  or  other  building,  or 
furniture,  apparatus  or  other  property  belonging  to  or  con- 
nected with  such  school-house,  church,  or  other  building,  shall 
be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  or  by 
imprisonment  in  the  jail  not  exceeding  one  year. 

INJURY  TO  LIBRARIES. 

SECT.  79.  Whoever  wilfully  and  maliciously  or  wantonly 
and  without  cause  writes  upon,  injures,  defaces,  tears  or  de- 
stroys a  book,  plate,  picture,  engraving  or  statute  belonging  to 
a  law,  town,  city  or  other  public  library,  shall  be  punished  by 
fine  of  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars,  or  by  im- 
prisonment in  the  jail  not  exceeding  six  months. 

DOG  TAX  FOR  SUPPORT  OF  SCHOOLS. 
[Pub.  Stats.,  chap.  102,  sect.  107.] 

Moneys  received  by  a  county  treasurer  under  the  provisions 
of  the  preceding  sections  relating  to  dogs,  and  not  paid  out  for 
damages  shall  in  the  month  of  January  be  paid  back  to  the 
treasurers  of  the  cities  and  towns  in  proportion  to  the  amounts 
received  from  such  cities  and  towns  ;  and  the  money  so  refunded 
shall  be  expended  for  the  support  of  public  libraries  or  schools. 
In  Suffolk  County  moneys  so  received  by  the  treasurer  of  a 
city  or  town,  and  not  so  paid  out,  shall  be  expended  by  the 
school  committee  for  the  support  of  public  schools. 

PATRIOTIC  EXERCISES. 

Chapter  111  of  the  Acts  of  1890  provides  that  in  all  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  Commonwealth  the  last  regular  session  prior 
to  Memorial  Day,  or  a  portion  thereof,  shall  be  devoted  to- 
exercises  of  a  patriotic  nature. 


1892.]  NORMAL   SCHOOLS. 


NORMAL   SCHOOLS. 


The  several  normal  schools  were  established  by  the  following 
legislative  resolves  :  — 

[Chap.  70,  Resolves  of  1838.] 

WHEREAS  by  a  letter  from  the  Honorable  Horace  Mann,  secretary  of 
the  board  of  education,  addressed  on  the  twelfth  of  March  current,  to 
the  president  of  the  senate  and  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives, 
it  appears,  that  private  munificence  *  has  placed  at  his  disposal  the  sum  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  to  promote  the  cause  of  popular  education  in  Massa- 
chusetts, on  condition  that  the  Commonwealth  will  contribute,  from  unap- 
propriated funds,  the  same  amount  in  aid  of  the  same  cause,  the  two  sums 
to  be  drawn  upon  equally,  from  time  to  time,  as  needed,  and  to  be  disbursed 
under  the  direction  of  the  board  of  education  in  qualifying  teachers  for  the 
common  schools ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  his  excellency  the  governor  is  hereby  authorized,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council,  to  draw  his  warrant  upon  the 
treasurer  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  favor  of  the  board  of  education,  for  the 
sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  in  such  instalments  and  at  such  times  as  said 
board  may  request :  provided,  that  said  board,  in  their  request  shall  certify, 
that  the  secretary  of  said  board  has  placed  at  their  disposal  an  equal 
amount  to  that  for  which  such  application  may  be  made  by  them ;  both 
sums  to  be  expended,  under  the  direction  of  said  board,  in  qualifying 
teachers  for  the  common  schools  in  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  the  board  of  education  shall  render  an  annual  account  of 
the  manner  in  which  said  moneys  have  been  by  them  expended. 

SALEM   NORMAL  SCHOOL. 
[Chap.  49,  Resolves  of  1853.] 

Resolved,  That  the  board  of  education  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized 
to  establish  a  state  normal  school  at  some  suitable  place  in  the  county  of 
Essex,  and  that  the  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
appropriated,  from  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  or  the  school  fund, 
according  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-six,  chapter  two  hundred  and  nineteen,  to  defray  the 
expense  of  providing  a  site,  of  erecting  or  purchasing  a  suitable  building, 
and  furnishing  the  necessary  appurtenances  and  apparatus  for  said  school ; 

*  Of  Hon.  Edmund  D wight. 


78  NORMAL    SCHOOLS.  [June, 

and  that  the  same  be  expended  for  that  purpose  under  the  direction  of 
the  board  of  education,  upon  whose  requisition  the  governor  is  hereby 
authorized  to  draw  his  warrants  upon  the  treasury  to  the  amount  aforesaid. 
Resolved,  That  the  board  of  education  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized 
to  purchase  and  receive  grants  of  land,  in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth, 
and  in  suitable  quantity,  for  the  site  of  said  building  and  the  accommoda- 
tion of  said  school ;  and  that,  before  selecting  said  site,  they  be  directed  to 
receive  propositions  from  towns  or  individuals  in  said  county  of  Essex,  in 
aid  of  the  object  of  these  resolves,  and  afterwards  to  make  such  selection  as 
will  in  their  opinion  best  subserve  the  interests  and  accommodate  the  wants 
of  said  school. 

WORCESTER  NORMAL  SCHOOL. 
[Chap.  79,  Resolves  of  1871.] 

Resolved,  That  the  board  of  education  are  hereby  authorized  and  required 
to  establish  a  state  normal  school  in  the  city  of  Worcester,  and  that  the  sum 
of  sixty  thousand  dollars  is  hereby  appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
erecting  a  suitable  building  and  furnishing  the  necessary  appurtenances 
and  apparatus  for  said  school,  and  that  the  same  be  expended  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  board  of  education,  upon  whose  requisition  the  governor  is 
hereby  authorized  to  draw  his  warrant  for  the  amount  aforesaid  to  be  paid 
from  the  school  fund :  provided,  that  the  deficit  of  income  of  the  school 
fund  occasioned  by  such  payment,  shall  be  deducted  from  the  moiety  of  the 
income  of  said  fund  applicable  to  educational  purposes,  in  such  manner  as 
not  to  affect  the  amount  to  be  apportioned  and  distributed  for  the  support  of 
public  schools. 

Resolved,  That  the  trustees  of  the  Worcester  Lunatic  Hospital  are  hereby 
authorized  and  required  to  convey  to  the  board  of  education  and  its  succes- 
sors, in  trust  for  the  Commonwealth,  a  tract  of  land  situated  in  said  city  of 
Worcester,  of  not  more  than  five  acres,  to  be  located  by  the  governor  and 
council,  east  of  a  line  drawn  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  east  of  the 
easterly  line  of  Mulberry  Street,  and  north  of  a  line  drawn  five  hundred 
feet  south  of  the  southerly  line  of  Prospect  Street  when  extended  east  as 
proposed ;  and  west  of  the  westerly  line  of  Wilmot  Street  when  extended 
southerly  as  proposed ;  the  conveyance  of  said  land  to  include  a  right  of 
way  thereto  from  East  Central  Street,  the  location  whereof  shall  be  deter- 
mined and  fixed  by  the  governor  and  council,  if  in  their  opinion  said  right 
of  way  is  necessary  and  desirable. 

Resolved,  That  the  city  of  Worcester  is  hereby  authorized  to  lay  out  and 
extend  Prospect  Street,  from  its  present  easterly  terminus  to  its  intersection 
with  the  proposed  line  of  the  prolongation  of  Wilmot  Street ;  also  to  ex- 
tend Wilmot  Street  southerly  to  the  proposed  intersection  with  the  exten- 
sion of  Prospect  Street,  and  from  that  point  southerly  to  East  Central 
Street. 

Resolved,  That  the  value  of  said  land  shall  be  determined  and  fixed  by 
the  governor  and  council,  and  the  amount  shall  be  credited  by  the  treasurer 
of  the  Commonwealth  to  the  fund  created  by  the  provisions  of  section  four, 
chapter  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy. 


1892.]  NORMAL   ART    SCHOOL.  79 

Resolved,  That  the  city  council  of  the  city  of  Worcester  may  raise  by  tax- 
ation or  otherwise,  the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  and  may  pay  the 
same  to  the  board  of  education  for  the  purposes  named  in  these  resolves  : 
provided,  that  these  resolves  shall  not  take  effect  until  the  city  of  Worces- 
ter or  the  inhabitants  thereof  shall  have  paid  to  the  board  of  education  the 
sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  to  aid  in  the  erection  and  furnishing  of  the 
building  for  said  school. 

NORMAL  ART  SCHOOL 

[Chaps.  47  and  61,  Resolves  of  1873.] 

Resolved,  That  there  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury,  the  sum  of 
seventy-five  hundred  dollars  for  the  expenses  of  a  state  normal  art  school, 
the  same  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  board  of  education. 

Resolved,  That  the  sergeant-at-arms  with  the  consent  and  approval  of  the 
commissioners  on  the  state  house  be  authorized  to  assign  the  rooms  on  the 
third  floor  of  the  house  number  thirty-three  Pemberton  Square  to  the  board 
of  education  for  the  use  of  the  state  normal  art  school. 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  resolves,  normal  schools 
were  established  as  follows  :  — 

The  first  at  Lexington,  which  was  opened  July,  1839,  trans- 
ferred to  West  Newton,  September,  1844 ;  and  to  Framingham 
in  1853.  It  receives  as  pupils  only  females. 

The  second  was  opened  at  Barre,  September,  1839  ;  was 
suspended  in  1841 ;  and  recommenced  at  Westfield,  September, 
1844,  and  receives  pupils  of  both  sexes. 

The  third  was  opened  at  Bridge  water,  September,  1840,  and 
admits  pupils  of  both  sexes. 

The  fourth  was  established  at  Salem,  and  opened  September, 
1854,  and  is  for  females  only. 

The  school  at  Worcester  was  opened  September,  1874.  It 
admits  pupils  of  both  sexes. 

The  Normal  Art  School  was  opened  October,  1873. 

THE  DESIGN  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  AND  COURSES  or  STUDY. 

The  Board  of  Education,  by  a  vote  passed  May  6,  1880, 
stated  the  design  of  the  school  and  the  course  of  studies  for 
the  State  normal  schools  as  follows  :  — 

"The  design  of  the  normal  schools  is  strictly  professional; 
that  is,  to  prepare,  in  the  best  possible  manner,  the  pupils  for 
the  work  of  organizing,  governing  and  teaching  the  public 
schools  of  the  Commonwealth. 


80  NORMAL  SCHOOLS.  [June, 

"To  this  end,  there  must  be  the  most  thorough  knowledge, 
first,  of  the  branches  of  learning  required  to  be  taught  in  the 
schools  ;  second,  of  the  best  methods  of  teaching  those  branches  ; 
and,  third,  of  right  mental  training. 

' '  The  time  of  one  course  extends  through  a  period  of  two 
years,  of  the  other  through  a  period  of  four  years,  and  is  divided 
into  terms  of  twenty  weeks  each,  with  daily  sessions  of  not 
less  than  five  days  each  week. 

"  STUDIES. 

"Two  Years'  Course. — Arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry, 
book-keeping. 

"Physics,  astronomy,  chemistry. 

"Physiology,  botany,  zoology,  mineralogy,  geology,  geog- 
raphy. 

"Language,  reading,  orthography,  etymology,  grammar, 
rhetoric,  literature,  composition. 

"  Penmanship,  drawing,  vocal  music,  gymnastics,  military 
drill. 

"Psychology,  science  and  art  of  education,  school  organiza- 
tion, history  of  education. 

"Civil  polity  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the  United  States, 
history,  school  laws  of  Massachusetts. 

"Four  Years'  Course. — In  addition  to  the  studies  named 
above,  the  four  years'  course  includes  advanced  algebra  and 
geometry,  trigonometry  and  surveying. 

"Advanced  chemistry,  physics  and  botany. 

"Drawing,  English  literature,  general  history. 

"Latin  and  French  required;  German  and  Greek,  as  the 
principal  and  visitors  of  the  school  shall  decide. 

"  The  above  is  an  enumeration  of  the  studies.  The  order  of 
the  studies  in  the  course  is  determined  by  the  principal  of  each 
school,  with  the  approval  of  the  visitors  of  that  school." 

NORMAL  ART  SCHOOL. 

Candidates  for  admission  to  the  Normal  Art  School  must  be 
above  sixteen  years  of  age. 

An  examination  in  freehand  drawing  of  ornament  from  copy, 
and  object  drawing  from  the  solid,  will  be  held  at  the  begin- 


181)2.]  STATE    SCHOLARSHIPS.  81 

ning  of  each  term,  of  all  candidates  for  admission  to  class  A. 
To  students  residing  within  the  State,  intending  to  teach  draw- 
ing in  the  public  schools,  tuition  is  free  ;  but  five  dollars  per 
term  will  be  charged  for  incidentals.  Tuition  fee,  to  students 
from  without  the  State,  fifty  dollars  per  term.  Students 
requiring  instruction  in  special  studies  may  enter  any  class 
without  passing  through  class  A,  by  payment  of  a  fee  of 
twenty-five  dollars  per  term  if  residents  of  Massachusetts,  and 
fifty  dollars  per  term  if  from  other  States.  All  fees  are  pay- 
able in  advance  to  the  curator  at  the  commencement  of  each 
term,  and  must  be  so  paid.  There  is  no  examination  for 
admission  for  the  special  students,  but  permission  for  entering 
must  be  obtained  from  the  principal.  The  work  of  class  A  is 
devoted  to  elementary  drawing ;  of  class  B,  to  form,  color  and 
industrial  design ;  of  class  D,  to  the  constructive  arts ;  and  of 
class  C,  to  sculpture  and  design  in  the  round. 

STATE  SCHOLARSHIPS  IN   THE  WORCESTER  POLYTECHNIC 
INSTITUTE. 

By  the  terms  of  certain  grants  made  by  the  State  to  the 
Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute,  that  institution  is  required  to 
maintain  twenty  free  scholarships,  the  pupils  to  be  selected  by 
the  Board  of  Education  from  the  different  counties  in  this 
Commonwealth,  except  that  none  shall  be  taken  from  Worcester 
County.  Blank  applications  for  these  scholarships  may  be 
obtained  of  the  principal  of  the  school  or  of  the  secretary  of 
the  State  Board  of  Education. 

STATE  SCHOLARSHIPS  IN  THE  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY. 

In  consideration  of  receiving  aid  from  the  Commonwealth,  it 
is  provided  by  chapter  103  of  the  Resolved  of  the  Legislature 
of  1887  that  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  "  shall 
establish  and  maintain  twenty  free  scholarships,  and  each  sena- 
torial district  in  this  Commonwealth  shall,  once  in  eight  years, 
in  such  alternate  order  as  the  Board  of  Education  shall  at  the 
time  of  the  first  apportionment  determine  by  lot,  be  entitled  to 
one  scholarship  for  a  period  of  four  years,  to  be  awarded  to 
such  candidates  as  shall  be  found  upon  examination  to  possess 
the  qualifications  fixed  for  the  admission  of  students  to  said 
institute,  and  who  shall  be  selected  by  the  Board  of  Education  j 


82  NORMAL   SCHOOLS.  [June, 

preference  in  the  award  being  given  to  qualified  candidates 
otherwise  unable  to  bear  the  expense  of  tuition.  In  case  no 
candidate  appears  from  a  senatorial  district,  then  a  candidate 
may  be  selected  from  the  State  at  large  to  fill  such  vacancy, 
who  may  continue  to  hold  the  scholarship  annually,  until  a 
candidate  is  presented  from  the  senatorial  district  unrepresented, 
who  shall  then  be  awarded  the  scholarship  for  the  balance  of  the 
time  for  which  said  district  would  originally  have  been  entitled 
to  its  benefit.  In  case  a  vacancy  occurs  in  any  senatorial  dis- 
trict after  an  appointment  has  been  made,  then  a  candidate 
from  the  same  district  shall  be  selected  for  the  balance  of  the 
time  for  which  said  district  is  entitled  to  its  benefit,  or  in  the 
event  of  no  such  candidate  appearing,  from  the  State  at  large, 
upon  the  conditions  previously  set  forth." 

The  Board  of  Education  has  established  the  following  regu- 
lations in  regard  to  the  scholarships  provided  for  above  :  — 

1.  Group  1.  —  Ten  scholarships  are  established,  to  be 
filled  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  1888-89,  and  these 
have  been  assigned  by  lot  to  the  following  senatorial  dis- 
tricts :  — 

2d  Middlesex,  2d  Worcester,  2d  Plymouth, 

1st  Bristol,  2d  Essex,  4th  Essex, 

2d  Norfolk,  8th  Suffolk,  5th  Essex, 

2d  Suffolk. 

This  allows  to  one  student  from  each  of  the  above-named  senatorial  dis- 
tricts free  tuition  during  the  school  years  1888-89,  1889-90,  1890-91, 
1891-92,  and  again,  after  an  interval  of  four  years,  during  the  school  years 
1896-97,  1897-98,  1898-99,  1899-1900. 

Group  2.  — Ten  additional  scholarships  are  established,  to 
be  filled  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  1889-90,  and 
these  have  been  assigned  by  lot  to  the  following  senatorial 
districts  :  — 

Berkshire  and  Hampshire,  1st  Plymouth,  Cape, 

3d  Essex,  1st  Worcester,  7th  Suffolk, 

3d  Suffolk,  1st  Essex,  6th  Middlesex, 

6th  Essex. 

This  allows  to  one  student  from  each  of  the  above  senatorial  districts 
free  tuition  during  the  school  years  1889-90,  1890-91,  1891-92,  1892-93, 
and,  after  an  interval  of  four  years,  during  the  school  years  1897-98, 
1898-99,  1899-1900,  1900-1901. 


1892.]  STATE    SCHOLARSHIPS.  83 

Group  3.  —  The  scholarships  to  be  filled  at  the  beginning  of 
the  school  year  1892-93  are  assigned  by  lot  to  the  following 
senatorial  districts  :  — 

1st  Middlesex,  9th  Suffolk,  1st  Hampden, 

5th  Middlesex,  1st  Suffolk,  Franklin, 

3d  Bristol,  4th  Middlesex,  1st  Norfolk, 

3d  Worcester. 

This  allows  to  one  student  from  each  of  the  above  senatorial  districts 
free  tuition  during  the  school  years  1892-93,  1893-94,  1894-95,  1895-96, 
and,  after  an  interval  of  four  years,  during  the  school  years  1900-1901, 
1901-2, 1902-3,  1903-4. 

Group  4.  —  The  scholarships  to  be  filled  at  the  beginning  of 
the  school  year  1893-94  are  assigned  by  lot  to  the  following 
.senatorial  districts  :  — 

3d  Middlesex,  5th  Suffolk,  2d  Hampden, 

7th  Middlesex,  4th  Suffolk,  4th  Worcester, 

2d  Bristol,  6th  Suffolk,  Berkshire, 

Worcester  and  Hampshire. 

This  allows  to  one  student  from  each  of  the  above  senatorial  districts  free 
-tuition  during  the  school  years  1893-94,  1894-95,  1895-96,  1896-97,  and, 
after  an  interval  of  four  years,  during  the  school  years  1901-2,  1902-3, 
1903-4,  1904-5. 

Each  senatorial  district  shall  be  entitled  thereafter  to  one 
scholarship  (for  four  years)  once  in  eight  years,  in  the  same 
order,above  named. 

2.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  scholarship  as- 
signed to  any  senatorial  district  without  any  properly  qualified 
applicant   appearing  from  that  district,  the  vacancy  shall  be 
filled  without  regard  to  locality,  from  the  list  of  applicants 
registered  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of 
Education. 

3.  Preference  shall  be  given  to  qualified  candidates  other- 
wise unable  to  bear  the  expense  of  tuition,  but  preference  shall 
be  given,  all  other  things  being  equal,  to  students  actually  in 
the  Institute  from  the  appropriate  senatorial  districts. 

4.  A  high  standard  of  personal  scholarship  shall  be  insisted 
upon,  as  a  condition  of  receiving  and  retaining  the  benefits  of 
the  State  scholarships. 


84  XORMAL   SCHOOLS.  [June,  '92. 

5.  Xo  assignment  of  a  State  scholarship  to  any  individual 
student  shall  hold  for  more  than  one  year,   without  his  re- 
appointment.      A    decided   preference    will   be    given   to   the 
student  who  has  previously  held  the   appointment ;    but  this 
preference  will  not  be  sufficient  to  secure  the  re-appointment 
of  any  student  who  has  not  maintained  a  thoroughly  respectable 
standing  in  his  studies,  and  whose  character  and  deportment 
are  not,  in  all  respects,  unexceptionable. 

6.  Applicants  for  original  appointment  to  State  scholarships 
must  enclose  in  their  applications  a  certificate  of  admission  to 
the  Institute  of  Technology,  free*from  "  conditions." 

7.  Persons  desiring  information  concerning  the  course  of 
study  at  the  Institute  of  Technology,  times  of  examination  and 
requirements  of  admission,  should  address  the  secretary  of  the 
Institute  of  Technology,  Boston. 

8.  Persons  desiring  information  regarding  vacancies  in  the 
State    scholarships    established   under   these    regulations,   and 
regarding  the  terms  and  conditions  upon  which  such  vacancies 
are  to  be  filled,  should  address  the  secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education,  Boston,  who  will  also  furnish  blank  forms  for 
application. 


INDEX  TO  SCHOOL  LAWS. 


PAGE 

Abandoned  and  abused  minors  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  wards  of  Society  for 

the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,      .     ' 74 

Accessions  to  school  fund  under  law  of  1890,    , 26 

Accounts  of  normal  school  boarding-houses  under  direction  of  State  auditor,         .  16 

Adjoining  towns,  conditions  for  children  attending  school  in 60 

High  schools,  union,  may  be  maintained  by, 33 

Tuition,  payment  of,  in, .  30,  60 

Admission  to  schools,  school  committee  fix  qualifications  for,  38 

Qualifications  for  admission  to  high  schools  fixed  by  committee,     ...  59 

Age,  certificate  of  child's,  by  whom  signed, 66 

Conditions  for  granting,  reading  and  writing 66 

Attendance  upon  school  thirty  weeks, 63 

Child  to  produce  employment  ticket, 64 

Evidence  of,  to  be  sought  in  records, 66 

Failure  to  produce  certificate  of, prima  facie  evidence  of  illegal  employment,  67 

Penalty  for  falsifying  concerning, 67 

Superintendent  or  school  committee  may  sign  certificate  of,      .        .        .        .  65 

Age  of  attendance  not  fixed  by  law, 58 

Compulsory,  from  eight  to  fourteen  years, 57 

Extends  to  fifteen  where  industrial  education  is  provided,     ....  58 
Drawing  to  be  taught  to  children  over  fifteen  years  of  age  in  towns  of  ten 

thousand  inhabitants, 33 

Parents  and  guardians  to  cause  their  children  and  wards  from  eight  to  four- 
teen or  fifteen  years  to  attend  school, .        .  57 

School  committees  have  power  to  provide  for  schooling  outside  of  compulsory 

age, 58 

Agents  of  the  Board  of  Education,  appointment  and  duties  of,         ....  15 

Ages  of  children,  committees  to  ascertain, 53 

Aid  by  public  appropriations  not  to  be  granted  to  sectarian  schools,        ...  7 

By  Todd  fund  to  pupils  in  normal  schools, 12 

American  Institute  of  Instruction,  memorial  of, 9 

Amount  of  school  fund  with  increase, 24 

Annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  upon  system  of  public  schools,     .        .  13 

Contains  abstract  of  school  returns, 13 

Detailed  report  of  doings  of  Board,            .    • 13 

Secretary  of  the  Board,  with  duties  imposed,      .        .        .        .        .        .        .  13 

Annual  report  of  school  committee  upon  condition  of  schools,        ....  55 

Form  and  size  of,  prescribed, .55 

Transmission  of,  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Education, 55 

Penalty  for  failure  to  transmit  before  May  1, 55 

Truant  officers',  to  be  published  with, 70 

Apparatus,  books  of  reference,  etc.,  to  be  provided  by  school  committees,      .        .  47 

School  committees  may  use  portion  of  school  fund  for  purchase  of,        .        .  27 

Apprentices  and  children,  under  law  of  1642,  required  to  be  taught,       ...  58 

Approval  of  private  school  by  school  committee, 59 

Religious  instruction  no  bar  to, 59 


86  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Art  School,  State  Normal,  at  Boston, 79,  80 

Assistant  librarian  of  State  library  clerk  of  Board  of  Education,   ....  16 

Assistants,  female,  to  be  employed  when  average  attendance  exceeds  fifty  scholars,  35 

Associations  of  teachers,  provisions  for 19-22 

County  and  State,  receive  aid, 22 

Teachers'  institutes,  arrangements  and  provisions  for, 19 

Towns,  list  of,  where  held  since  1845, 19 

Attendance  of  children  upon  public  schools, 57-62 

Age,  limits  of,  not  fixed  by  statute, 58 

School  committees  have  power  to  provide  for,  outside  of  compulsory  age,    .  58 
Certificate  of  physician  required  to  admit  children  exposed  to  contagious 

diseases, 61 

Children  and  apprentices,  under  law  of  1642,  required  to  be  taught,         .        .  5S 

Between  eight  and  fourteen  to  be  made  to  attend  public  day  school,     .        .  57 

Age  extended  to  fifteen  where  industrial  education  is  provided,         .        .  58 

Exceptions  to  law  requiring  attendance  upon  public  schools,        ...  57 

Statutes  fix  no  limits  as  to  age  outside  of  compulsory  age,    ....  58 

"Where  they  may  attend  school, 59 

Out  of  town  by  agreement  of  school  committee, 60 

State  lines,  attendance  cannot  go  beyond 60 

Towns  not  required  to  keep  high  schools  may  pay  tuition  to  other  towns,  30 

Tuition  per  scholar  from  out  of  town,  average  for  town,     ....  60 

Color,  race  or  religioH  not  to  exclude  from  school, 61 

Contagious  diseases  in  family  preclude  from  attendance  on  public  school,      .  61 

Courts  having  jurisdiction  of  cases  of  truancy, 59 

Damages  may  be  recovered  for  unlawful  exclusion  from  school,      ...  61 

Education,  universal,  a  necessity  under  our  institutions, 58 

Exclusion  of  pupil  from  school, 39 

Cause  must  be  given  by  committee  and  teacher, 61 

Guardian,  residence  of,  place  where  minor  may  attend,    .        .        .        .        .  60 

High  school,  admission  to,  decided  by  school  committee,          .        .        .        .  59 
Manual  training  or  industrial  education  in  towns  a  condition  for  extending  to 

fifteen  the  age  of  compulsory, 58 

Minor  under  guardianship,  attendance  of,  where  guardian  resides,  ...  60 
Parents  and  guardians  to  cause  children  from  eight  to  fourteen  or  fifteen  years 

of  age  to  attend  school 57 

Expulsion  of  child,  cause  for,  may  be  demanded  by, 61 

Penalty  upon,  for  non-compliance  with  law, 57 

Time  of  attendance,  schools  keeping  so  long,  thirty  weeks,   ....  57 

Penalty  upon  parents  for  failure  to  secure  attendance  of  child,         ...  57 

Private  schools  may  be  approved  by  school  committees  for  purposes  of,  .        .  59 

Religious  instruction  not  a  bar  to  approval  of,       ......  59 

School  committee,  every  member  may  be  required  to  testify  in  case  of 

expulsion, 61 

High  schools,  admission  to,  determined  by, 59 

Power  of,  to  admit  to  school  outside  of  compulsory  age,       ....  58 

Private  school  instruction,  quality  of,  to  be  ascertained  by  school  committee,  59 

Truant  officers  act  under  direction  of, 59 

Tuition  of  non-resident  pupils,  committee  fix  rate  of, 60 

Vaccination  of  all  pupils  to  be  insisted  upon  by, 60 

School  moneys  not  to  be  given  by  towns  to  individuals  to  pay  tuition  else- 
where,           60 

Schools  cannot  receive  non-resident  pupils  from  other  States,  ....  60 

Suspension  of  pupil  by  teacher  must  be  referred  to  school  committee,      .        .  62 

By  committee,  on  the  ground  of  right  to  guard  from  misrule,         ...  62 

Towns  adjoining,  conditions  for  children  attending  school  in,    .        .        .        .  60 

Tuition  in  such  cases  to  be  agreed  upon  by  committees,        ....  60 


INDEX.  87 

PAGE 

Attendance  of  children  upon  public  schools  —  concluded. 

Truant  officers  and  school  committee  must  discover  truants  and  enforce  law,  .  59 

Committee  to  direct,, 59 

Jurisdiction  of  cases  of  truancy  in  what  courts, 59 

Tuition,  payment  of,  in  adjoining  towns, 30,  60 

Authority  of  teacher  over  pupils, ...  43 

In  coming  to  and  going  from  school, 44 

In  school-room, 44 

On  school  premises, 44 

Average  cost  of  pupil's  tuition  determines  rate  for  non-resident  pupils,  ...  60 

Bible,  reading  of,  required  in  public  schools, 45 

Blank  forms  of  school  registers,  duly  filled,  to  be  returned  by  committees  to  secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Education, 54 

For  applicants  to  deaf-mute  schools  and  blind,  for  State  aid,    ....  16 

School  returns  not  being  received,  committee  to  notify  secretary  of  the  Board,  53 

For  returns  from  private  schools  and  other  educational  institutions,     .        .  18 

Town  clerks  to  deliver  registers  and,  to  school  committees 53 

Boarding-houses  connected  with  normal  schools  under  management  of  Board  of 

Education,  .............  16 

Board  of  Education,  how  organized,  terms  of  office,  etc., 10 

Abstract  of  school  returns  compiled  by, 13 

Agents  of  Board,  appointment  and  duties  of, 15 

Persons  employed  as,  list  of, 15 

Annual  report  of,  upon  system  of  public  schools, 13 

Blind  (see  Deaf-mutes  and  Blind). 

Clerk  of,  assistant  librarian  to  act  as, 16 

Deaf-mutes  and  blind,  institutions  for,  receiving  State  aid  to  report  to,     .        .  16 

Blanks  for  applicants  to,  to  be  provided  by  Board  of  Education,          .        .  18 

Expenses  of,  borne  by  State, 17 

Governor,  with  consent  of  Board  of  Education,  may  provide  for,  ...  17 

Institutions,  to  which  may  be  sent, -.        .        .  17 

Report  of  institutions  for,  to  be  made  to  the  Board  of  Education,          .        .  18 

Supervision  of  institutions  for,  under  the  Board  of  Education,      ,         .        .  17 

Ten  years,  time  of  State  provision  for, 17 

Detailed  report  of  doings  of, 13 

Educational  progress,  summary  of, 15 

Expenses  of  members  paid  out  of  treasury,        .                16 

Feeble-minded,  Massachusetts  School  for,  to  report  to, 18 

Education  of,  provision  for, 18 

Report  to  contain  statement  of  income  and  expenditures,  inmates,  etc.,        .  18 

Grants  for  educational  purposes  intrusted  to, 12 

Todd  fund  in  aid  of  normal  students,      .........  12 

Members,  list  of,  from  organization, 11 

Normal  schools,  management  of,  by, 16 

Boarding-houses  connected  with,  under  management  of  the  Board,      .        .  16 

Accounts  of,  under  direction  of  State  auditor, 16 

Organization  of,  term  of  office  of, 10 

Private  schools  and  other  educational  institutions  to  make  returns  to,      .        .  16 

Registers  and  returns,  form  of,  prescribed  by, 13 

Duty  of  committees  concerning, 13 

Town  clerk  to  forward,  to  school  committees, 13 

Receipts  and  expenditures,  by  towns,  of  school  fund,  to  be  returned  to, .        .  54 

Reports  of,  to  be  delivered  to  secretary  of  school  committee,    ....  14 

To  be  sent  to  town  clerk, 14  ' 

Secretary  of,  appointment  and  duties  of, 13 

General  superintendence  of  schools  intrusted  to, 14 

Issues  blank  forms  of  inquiry, 

Salary  of,  with  travelling  expenses, 14 


88  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Board  of  Education,  secretaries  of,  list  of,  from  organization  of  Board,        .        .  11 

Teachers'  institutes,  to  arrange  for, 19 

To  be  notified  by  school  committee  of  failure  to  receive  registers  and  blanks,  53 

Transmission  of  school  committees'  report  and  returns  to  secretary  of,  required,  55 

Penalty  for  failure  of  town  regarding, 55 

Board  of  health  may  overrule  order  of  inspectors  of  public  buildings,   ...  51 

Books  and  supplies,  provisions  concerning, 45,  47 

Of  reference  and  apparatus  to  be  provided  by  school  committee,      ...  47 

School  committee  may  use  portion  of  school  fund  for  purchase  of,  .        .        .  27 

Sectarian,  to  be  excluded  from  public  schools, 45 

Text  and  other,  under  supervision  of  school  committee, 45,47 

Changes  in  text-books,  conditions  for, 47 

Boston,  State  Normal  Art  School  at, 79,  80 

Branches  to  be  taught  at  option  of  school  committees,     .• 29 

Bridgewater  Normal  School,  opening  of, 79 

Bringing  up  of  children,  parents  and  masters  to  render  account  of,         ...  5 

By-laws  made  by  towns  for  control  of  truant  children, 69 

Complaints  under,  to  be  made  by  truant  officers  and  inspectors  of  factories,    .  70 
Calisthenics,  military  drill  and  other  exercises  may  be  taught  in  public  schools,  .  46 
Census  of  school  children  to  be  secured  by  school  committee,         .        .        .        .  53 
Certificate,  form  of,  for  transmitting  information  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Edu- 
cation,           54 

Child  to  produce  employment  ticket  before  receiving  certificate  of  school 

attendance, 64 

Conditions  for  granting,  reading  and  writing, 66 

Attendance  upon  school  thirty  weeks 63 

Corporation  to  keep  on  file  certificate  of  attendance, 63 

Employer  to  surrender  certificate  on  application  by  child 65 

In  factories,  open  to  inspectors  and  truant  officers, 66 

Failure  to  produce,  prima  facie  evidence  of  illegal  employment,      ...  67 

Not  to  be  signed  by  employer  as  school  committee, 65 

Of  child's  age,  by  whom  signed, 66 

Of  physician  required  to  admit  child  after  exposure  to  contagious  disease,      .  61 

Of  teachers'  qualifications  to  be  granted  by  school  committee, ....  42 

Diploma  of  normal  school  in  lieu  of, 41 

Penalty  for  falsifying  concerning  age  of  child,   .                67 

Superintendent  or  school  committee  may  sign  certificate  of  attendance,  .        .  65 
Chairman  and  secretary  of  school  committee,  in  case  of   union  of  towns,  to 

employ  superintendent, 48 

Changes  in  text-books  directed  by  school  committee, 47 

Chief  of  district  police  may  designate  employments  injurious 63 

Child's  age,  evidence  of,  to  be  sought  in  records, 66 

Children  and  apprentices,  under  law  of  1642,  required  to  be  taught,        ...  58 

Attendance  of,  for  thirty  weeks  required, 63 

Attending  schools  in  adjoining  towns,  conditions  for, 60 

Conveyance  of,  to  school,  duty  of  committee  concerning, 37 

Distribution  of,  in  schools  by  school  committee, 38 

Employment  of,  and  regulations  respecting 63-72 

Value  of  certificate  of,  to  school  committee, 54 

Enumeration  of,  to  be  secured  by  school  committee, 54 

Exclusion  of,  from  school, ' 39,  61 

In-door  work  of  any  kind  forbidden  to,  etc., 63 

Persistent  violators  of  rules  of  common  schools  may  be  committed  to  truant 

school, 69,  70 

Truants  and  absentees  from  school, 69-72 

Under  thirteen  years  old  not  to  be  employed  at  anytime  in  factory, workshop, etc.,      63 

Under  fourteen  years  of  age  not  to  be  employed  between  seven  P.M.  and  six  A.M.,  63 

Work  of  all  kinds  forbidden  to  children  during  school  hours,  etc 63 


INDEX.  89 

PAGE 

Circus,  children  under  fifteen  years  old  not  to  be  employed  in,        ....  68 

Penalties  attached  to  employment  of  children  in, 68 

Cities  and  towns  subject  to  like  rules  regarding  use  of  school-houses,      ...  52 

Colonial  period,  laws  enacted  during, 5,  6 

Children  to  be  accounted  for  to  chosen  men  of  the  town,  .        .        .        .        .  5 

Color,  race  or  religion  not  to  exclude  from  public  schools, 61 

Commissioners  of  Massachusetts  school  fund, 25 

Committees  (see  School  Committees) . 

Compensation  of  school  committees  per  day,    . 48 

Under  superintendent  laws  of  1854  and  1870, 48 

Under  union  superintendent  laws  of  1888, 49 

Complaints  for  truancy,  under  town  by-laws,  to  be  made  by  truant  officers  and 

inspectors  of  factories, 70 

Compulsory  attendance,  age  of,  eight  to  fourteen  and  fifteen,  .        .        .        .        .  57,  58 

Constitution,  educational  provisions  under, 7 

Contagious  diseases  in  family  preclude  from  attendance  in  public  schools,     .        .  61 

Contiguous  portions  of  different  towns,  schools  for, 34 

Contract  with  teachers,  duties  of  committees  concerning, 41 

Convention  of  school  committees  of  towns  uniting  to  employ  superintendent,       .  49 

To  elect  superintendent, 49 

Copies  of  school  committees'  reports  to  be  sent  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  to  town  clerk, 55 

Corporation  and  workshop  forbidden  to  employ  children  without  a  certificate,        .  64 

May  be  prosecuted  for  violation  of  law, 67 

Corporation  school  fund  not  affected  by  town's  obligation  to  raise  money  for 

schools, 36 

Counties,  two  or  more  union  truant  schools  may  be  established  for,        ...  71 

County  teachers'  association,  State  aid  for 22 

County  treasurer  to  apply  forfeiture  moneys  to  support  of  schools,        ...  36 
County  truant  schools  established  by  county  commissioners  on  requisition  of 

three  or  more  towns,  ...........  71 

Commissioners  to  control  schools, 71 

Support  of  truants  in,  by  towns,  cost  two  dollars  per  week,      .        .        .        .  71 

Towns  may  commit  to, 70 

Transfer  of  truants  from  town  to, '    .        .  72 

Course  of  studies  prescribed  by  law  compulsory  and  optional  with  school  com- 
mittee   29 

Hand  tools,  use  of, 29 

High  school,  two  courses  of  studies, 30 

Industrial  and  mechanical  drawing, 33 

Industrial  schools,  provision  for, 3.4 

To  be  prescribed  by  school  committee, 46 

Courts  having  jurisdiction  of  cases  of  truancy,        .......  70 

Damage  may  be  recovered  for  unlawful  exclusion  from  school,      .        .        .        .  61 

Deaf-mutes  and  blind,  institutions  for,  receiving  State  aid  to  report  to  Board  of 

Education, 

Detailed  report  of  doings  of  Board  of  Education 13 

Diploma  of  normal  school  in  lieu  of  school  committee  examinations,     . 

Discharge  of  truant  children  by  court  committing 72 

District  police  to  notify  school  committee  of  employment  laws,       ....  67 

Chief  of,  to  designate  injurious  employments, 63 

Inspection  department  of,  to  enforce  law  concerning  sanitary  condition  of 

school-houses ^ 

Board  of  health  may  overrule  order  of, '51 

District  system  of  schools  established  by  law  of  1789, 

Disturbing  school,  penalty  for, <[5 

Dog  tax  applied  for  support  of  schools  and  public  libraries 76 


90  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Drawing,  industrial  and  mechanical,  may  be  taught  to  persons  over  fifteen  in  any 

town, 33 

Must  be  taught  to  child  over  fifteen  years  in  towns  of  ten  thousand  inhabi- 
tants,    33 

Prescribed  study  in  public  schools, 29 

Duration  of  high  schools,  ten  months, 30 

Duties  of  school  committee  as  supervisors  of  public  schools,   .....  29-70 

Of  truant  officers  under  town  by-laws, 69 

Educational  progress,  summary  of, 15 

Education,  Board  of  (see  Board  of  Education). 

Education  of  feeble-minded  children,  provision  for, 18 

Education,  universal,  a  necessity  under  our  institutions, 58 

Election  of  school  committees,  method  and  time  of, 37 

Of  superintendent  of  schools,  under  law  of  1888,  by  ballot,        ....  49 

Penalty  of  towns  for  neglect  to  elect, 36 

Sex  no  bar  to  eligibility  to  office, 37 

Employment  of  children  and  regulations  respecting  them, 63-72 

Age,  certificate  of,  who  may  sign, 66 

Attendance  upon  school,  reading  and  writing  requisites  for  obtaining  certifi- 
cates of, 66 

Thirty  weeks  of  schooling  necessary  to  gaining  certificate  of,         ...  63 

Certificate  and  employment  ticket  to  be  kept  by  corporations,  ....  63 

Certificate  of  age  not  to  be  signed  till  child  produces  employment  ticket,          .  64 

Superintendent  authorized  to  sign  certificate, 65 

Certificates  in  factories  open  to  inspectors  and  truant  officers,  ....  66 
Children  under  thirteen  years  old  not  to  be  employed  at  any  time  in  factory, 

workshop,  etc., 63 

In-door  work  of  any  kind  forbidden,  etc., 63 

Under  fourteen  years  not  to  be  employed  between  seven  P.M.  and  six  A.M.,  63 

"Work  of  all  kinds  forbidden  to  certain  children  during  school  hours,  etc.,   .  63 

Circus,  children  under  fifteen  years  old  not  to  be  employed  in,         ...  68 

Penalties  attached  to  employment  of  children  in, 68 

Corporation  and  workshop  forbidden  to  employ  children  without  certificate,  .  64 

May  be  prosecuted  for  violation  of  law, 67 

District  police  to  notify  school  committee  of  employment  laws,        ...  67 

Employer  to  surrender  certificate  on  application  by  child,         ....  65 

May  not  sign  certificate  as  school  committee, 65 

Oath  provided  for  in  certificate  may  be  administered  by  signer,    ...  65 

Employment  ticket,  form  of, 64 

Modification  in  form  of, 65 

Employments,  injurious,  designated  by  chief  of  district  police,         ...  63 

Evidence  of  age  of  child  to  be  sought  in  records,       ..'....  66 

Factory  and  workshop,  definitions  of, .67 

Failure  to  produce  certificate  of  age  prima  facie  evidence  of  illegal  employment,  67 

Fines  and  imprisonment  for  employing  children  under  fifteen  in  circuses,  etc.,  68 

Music  for  school  or  church  not  within  pale  of  the  law 68 

In-door  work  for  wages  during  school  hours  forbidden, 63 

Inspectors  of  factories  and  truant  officers  to  examine  certificates  of  children 

under  sixteen  years  of  age, 66 

Licenses  not  to  be  granted  for  shows  employing  children  under  fifteen  years 

of  age, 68 

Penalty  for  employing  truant  children  after  due  notice, 72 

For  falsifying  concerning  children's  age, 67 

For  violation  of  employment  law  concerning  children  under  fourteen  years  old,  68 
Upon  parents  and  factory  owners  for  employing  children  contrary  to  law,  .  67 
Prosecutions  against  persons  or  corporations  made  by  truant  officer  or  in- 
spector,         67 


INDEX.  91 

PAGE 

Employment  of  children,  reading  and  writing  requisites    for    employment   of 

children  under  fourteen  years  old, 66 

Superintendent  or  school  committee  to  sign  certificate  of  age,  ....  65 

Truant  children,  penalty  for  employing,  after  notice,        ....  72 

Truant  officers  and  factory  inspectors,  duties  of,  concerning  employers,  .        .  66 

Establishment  of  normal  schools, 77,79 

Evening  schools  in  towns  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 31 

High,  to  be  maintained  by  towns  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,         ...  33 

Notification  of  time  and  place  of  holding,  to  be  given  by  school  committees,    .  31 
Supervision  of  and  notice  of  opening,  by  school  committees,    .        .        .        .31-33 

Evidence  of  age  of  child  to  be  sought  in  records, 66 

Examination  of  teachers,  duty  of  committees  concerning, 42 

Exclusion  of  pupils  from  public  schools, 39 

Cause  must  be  given  by  committee  and  teacher  if  required,      ....  61 

Parent  or  guardian  may  bring  action  against  town  for 61 

Expenses  of  members  of  Board  of  Education, 16 

Of  teachers' institutes,  how  paid, 19 

Factory  and  workshop,  definitions  of, 67 

Failure  of  committee  to  make  returns  or  to  report,    . 55 

Of  employers  to  produce  certificate  of  age  prima  facie  evidence  of  illegal 

employment  in, 67 

Of  towns  to  elect  school  committee,  penalty  for, 36 

Feeble-minded,  Massachusetts  School  for 18 

Female  assistants  to  be  employed  when  average  attendance  exceeds  fifty  pupils,  .  35 

Fines  and  imprisonment  for  employing  children  under  fifteen  in  circuses,  etc.,      .  68 

Forfeiture  money  of  towns  to  be  applied  to  support  of  schools,        ....  36 

Form  and  size  of  annual  report  of  school  committee, 55 

Framingham  Normal  School  opened  at  Lexington  in  1839, 79 

Funds,  school,  laws  concerning, 23-27 

Commissioners  of  Massachusetts  school  fund, 25 

Corporations,  school  funds  not  affected  by  town's  obligation  to  raise  money  for 

schools, 36 

Massachusetts  school  fund,  history  of, 8,  23 

Todd  fund  for  normal  schools  applied  by  Board  of  Education,          ...  27 

General  charge  and  supervision  of  schools  by  school  committee,     ....  38 
Grammar  schools  by  law  of  1647  to  be  established  in  towns  of  one  hundred 

families, 6 

Amendment  to  law  in  1683  required  two  schools  in  towns  of  five  hundred 

families, 6 

High  school  provided  for  in  1826  in  place  of  old, 8 

Grants  for  educational  purposes  intrusted  to  Board  of  Education 12 

Greek  and  Latin  omitted  in  high  schools  in  towns  not  having  four  thousand 

inhabitants, 8 

Guardian,  residence  of,  place  where  minor  may  attend  school,        ....  60 

Hand  tools,  purchase  and  use  of,  for  public  schools, 29 

High  schools,  evening,  to  be  maintained  in  towns  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,    .  33 

High  schools,  union,  may  be  maintained  by  adjoining  towns,        ....  33 

Admission  to,  decided  by  school  committee, 59 

Course  of  studies  required  in  towns  of  five  hundred  families,  ....  30 

Additional  studies  in  towns  of  four  thousand  inhabitants 30 

Evening,  in  cities  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants, 33 

Superintendence  by  school  committee,     .                33 

Master  includes  female  teacher,  . 31 

Supervision  of,  by  one  member  of  each  committee 33 

Tuition,  payment  of,  by  towns  not  required  to  maintain, 30 

History  of  legislation  concerning  school  committee, 38 

Hygiene  and  physiology  to  be  taught  in  all  public  schools 29 


92  INDEX. 


PAGE 

Improper  literature,  act  providing  against  disseminating, 75 

Income  of  Massachusetts  school  fund,  distribution  of,  by  law  of  1891,    ...  26 

Influence  exerted  by 25 

In  towns,  how  applied, 27 

Investment  of  the  fund, 26 

Increasing  and  decreasing  number  of  school  committees, 41 

In-door  work  for  wages  during  sckool  hours  forbidden, 63 

Industrial  and  mechanical  drawing  may  be  taught  in  any  town,      ....  33 

Must  be  taught  in  towns  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 33 

Industrial  education  in  towns  a  condition  for  extending  to  fifteen  the  age  of  compul- 
sory attendance,          58 

Industrial  schools,  town  may  maintain, 34 

Attendance  upon,  not  to  excuse  from  public  school  attendance,        ...  34 

Superintendence  to  be  with  school  committee, 34 

Injury  to  buildings,  malicious, 75 

To  libraries,  punishment  for, 76 

Inspectors  of  factories  and  truant  officers  to  examine  certificate  of  children  under 

sixteen  years  of  age, 66 

Of  public  buildings,  reports  of,  may  be  overruled 51 

Penalty  for  non-compliance  with  inspectors'  order,    .        .        .        .        .        .  51 

Public  building  and  school-house  denned, .51 

Institute  of  Technology,  Boston, 81 

Polytechnic,  Worcester, 81 

Institutes,  State  scholarships  in, 81-84 

Institutes,  teachers'  (see  Teachers'  Institutes) . 

Institutions,  deaf-mute,  blind  and  feeble-minded,  report  to  Board  of  Education,    .  16 

Intoxicating  liquors,  license  for  sale  of, 75 

Jurisdiction  of  cases  of  truancy,  courts  having, 70 

Land  may  be  taken  for  site  of  school-house, 52 

Legislation  concerning  committees,  history  of, 38 

Legislators  and  magistrates  enjoined  to  foster  public  schools 7 

Libraries  and  schools,  support  of,  by  dog  tax, 76 

Injury  to  libraries,  penalty  for, 76 

License  not  to  be  granted  for  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  within  four  hundred  feet,  etc.,    75 

Licenses  not  to  be  granted  for  shows  employing  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  68 

Liquor,  intoxicating,  not  to  be  sold  within  four  hundred  feet  of  school-house,        .  75 

Literature,  encouragement  of,  under  constitution, 7 

Lord  Macaulay's  tribute  to  Massachusetts  school  legislation, 5 

Malicious  injury  to  buildings,  penalty  for,        . 75 

Manual  training  or  industrial  education  in  towns   a  condition  for  extending  to 

fifteen  the  age  of  compulsory  attendance, 58 

Massachusetts  school  fund,  foundation  and  history  of, 8,  23 

Accessions  to,  under  law  of  1890 26 

Amount  of, 24 

Conditions  upon  which  towns  receive  income  of, 27 

Distribution  of  income  of,  law  of  1891 26 

Income  of,  how  applied  in  towns, 27 

Influence  exerted  by, 25 

Investment  of  the  fund, 26 

Paid  to  treasurers  of  towns, 27 

Receipt  and  expenditure  of,  by  towns, 54 

School  committee  may  use  portion  for  purchase  of  apparatus,  ....  27 
Towns  must  raise  three  dollars  per  pupil  for  support  of  schools  in  order  to 

receive, 27 

Massachusetts  Teachers'  Association,  aid  for 22 

Master  in  high  schools  includes  female  teacher, 31 

Members  of  Board  of  Education,  list  of,  from  organization, 11 


INDEX.  93 

PAGE 

Memorial  of  American  Institute  of  Instruction,  reference  to, 9 

Military  drill  and  other  exercises  may  be  taught  in  public  schools,         ...  46 

Minor  under  guardianship,  attendance  of,  where  guardian  resides,  ....  60 

Moneys  not  to  be  given  by  towns  to  individuals  to  pay  tuition,        ....  60 

Month  for  school  records  equals  twenty  days 54 

Moral  instruction,  duties  of  instructors  of  youth  concerning, 35 

Narcotics,  stimulants  and,  effects  of, 29 

Nautical  schools,  attendance  upon,  may  excuse  from  public  school  attendance,     .  34 

New  members  of  school  board,  election  of, 39,  41 

Non-resident  pupils,  schools  cannot  receive,  from  other  States,       ....  60 

Normal  schools,  establishment  of, 77 

Art,  State  Normal,  at  Boston, 79,  80 

Bridgewater,  opening  of, 79 

Design  and  course  of  studies  of,  . 79 

Early  provision  for, 8 

Establishment  of  schools,  order  of, 79 

Framingham,  opened  at  Lexington, 79 

Management  of,  by  Board  of  Education,    .                16 

Salem,  resolve  concerning, 77 

Westfield,  opened  at  Barre, 79 

Worcester,  resolve  concerning, 78 

Notification  of  time  and  place  of  holding  evening  schools  to  be  given  by  school 

committee, 32 

Number  of  school  committee  to  be  three  or  a  multiple  of  three,      .        .                .  37 

Number  of  schools  to  be  kept  sufficient  for  all  children  of  school  age,    ...  29 

Old  board  of  school  committees  to  report  schools  of  their  year,       ....  40 

Ordinances  establishing  schools .5,6 

Organization  of  board  of  school  committees, 41 

Of  public  schools  intrusted  to  school  committees, 38 

Owner  of  land  taken  for  school-house  may  have  recourse  to  jury,  .        ...  52 

Parents  and  masters  to  render  account  for  bringing  up  of  children,          ...  5 

And  guardians  to  cause  their  children  from  eight  to  fourteen  to  attend  school,  57 

Patriotic  exercises  in  public  schools,  session  prior  to  memorial  day,        ...  76 

Pay  of  school  committees  in  towns  and  cities 48 

Of  teacher  depends  upon  filling  and  returning  register,      .....  56 
Not  to  be  received  under  superintendent  laws  of  1854  and  1870  unless  town 

votes, 48 

To  be  received  under  law  of  1888 49 

Penalty  applied  to  school  committee  for  neglect  of  duty  regarding  returns,    .        .  56 

For  attempting  to  corrupt  youth  by  improper  literature 75 

For  employing  children  in  circus, 68 

For  employing  truant  children  after  due  notice, 72 

For  failure  to  transmit  annual  report  and  returns  of  school  committee  before 

May  1 55 

For  falsifying  concerning  age  of  child, 67 

For  malicious  injury  to  buildings, 75 

For  non-compliance  with  inspector's  order, 51 

For  violation  of  employment  law  concerning  children  under  fourteen  years 

of  age, 68 

Of  towns  neglecting  to  elect  school  committees 36 

Upon  parents  and  factory  owners  for  employing  children  contrary  to  law,      .  67 
Upon  parents  and  guardians  for  failure  to  cause  children  from  eight  to  fourteen 

years  of  age  to  attend  school,   , 57 

Physiology  and  hygiene  to  be  taught  in  all  schools, 29 

Power  of  school  committee  to  admit  to  school  outside  of  compulsory  age  not 

limited  by  law, %fc 58 

Printed  annuaJ  reports  ©f  school  committee,  form  a-nd  size  of  page,         ...  55 


94  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Private  school  instruction,  quality  of,  to  be  ascertained  by  school  committee,        .  59 
Private  schools  and  other  educational  institutions  to  make  returns  to  Board  of 

Education,  ...                .........  16 

May  be  approved  by  school  committees  for  purposes  of  employment,      .        .  59 

Public  building  and  school-house  defined, 51 

Public  schools,  laws  pertaining  to, 29,  62 

Alcoholic  drinks,  instruction  as  to  effects  of, 29 

Attendance  upon,  duties  of  ministers  and  public  officers  concerning,        .        .  35 

Industrial  schools,  concerning, 34 

Bible,  reading  of,  required  in .        .        .        .  45 

Scruples  against,  to  be  regarded,      , 45 

Board  of  health  may  overrule  order  of  inspectors  of  public  buildings,     .        .  51 

Books,  sectarian,  to  be  excluded  from, 45 

Text,  conditions  upon  which  changes  are  made, 47 

Calisthenics,  military  drill  and  other  exercises  may  be  taught  in,     .        .        .  46 

Certificate  of  qualifications  required  of  teacher, 42 

Diploma  of  normal  school  in  lieu  of, 41 

In  duplicate  on  file, 44 

Physicians  to  exempt  child  in  case   of  sickness  from  attending  evening 

school 32 

Children,  distribution  of,  at  committee's  discretion, 38 

Towns  required  to  keep  sufficient  number  of  schools  for  all,         ...  29 

Cities  and  towns  subject  to  like  rules  regarding  use  of  school-houses,      .        .  52 

Colonial  period,  laws  enacted  during, 5,  6 

Children  to  be  accounted  for,  to  chosen  men  of  the  town 5 

Free  public  schools,  origin  of, 6 

Grammar  schools  to  be  established  in  towns  of  one  hundred  families, .        .  65 

Amendment  to  law  requiring  five  hundred  families, 6 

Lord  Macaulay's  tribute  to  Massachusetts  school  legislation,         ...  5 

Ordinances  establishing  schools,      .        . 5, 6 

Parents  and  masters  to  render  account  of  bringing  up  of  children,        .        .  5 

Schools,  keeping  of,  made  compulsory  by  law  of  1647 6 

Towns  of  fifty  householders  to  maintain  schools, 6 

Constitution,  educational  provisions  of, 7 

Legislators  and  magistrates  enjoined  to  foster  public  schools,        .  ^     .        .  7 

Literature,  encouragement  of, 7 

Sectarian  schools  not  to  be  aided  by  public  appropriations,   ....  7 
Committees  (see  School  Committees). 

Compensation  of  school  committees  per  day, 48 

Under  superintendent  laws  of  1854  and  1870, 48 

Under  union  superintendent  laws  of  1888, 49 

Convention  of  school  committees  to  elect  superintendent,         .        .                .  49 

County  treasurer  to  apply  forfeiture  moneys  to  support  of  schools,        .        .  36 

Course  of  studies  in,  compulsory  and  optional, 29 

Hand  tools,  use  of, 2? 

High  schools,  two  courses  prescribed, 30 

Industrial  and  mechanical  drawing  in  day  or  evening  schools,       ...  33 

Industrial  schools,  provisions  for, 34 

To  be  prescribed  by  school  committees, 46 

Drawing,  industrial  and  mechanical,  may  be  taught  in  any  town,     ...  33 
Must  be  taught  to  children  over  fifteen  years  of  age  in  towns  of  ten  thou- 
sand inhabitants, 33 

Prescribed  study  in  public  schools, 29 

Diploma  of  normal  school  in  lieu  of  school  committee  examination,        .        .  41 

Election  of  superintendent  of  schools,  under  law  of  1888,  by  ballot,        .        .  49 

Evening  schools  in  towns  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 31 

High,  to  be  maintained  by  towns  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  .        .        .  33 


INDEX.  95 


Public  schools  —  continued. 

Evening  schools,  notification  of  time  and  place  of  holding,  to  be  given  by 

school  committees, 32 

Supervision  of,  by  school  committees 31 

Female  assistants  to  be  employed  when  average  attendance  exceeds  fifty  pupils,  35 

Forfeiture  money  of  towns  to  be  applied  to  support  of  schools,        .        .  35 

Hand  tools,  purchase  and  use  of,  for 29 

Committee  to  prescribe  rules  for  use  of, 29 

High  schools  required  in  towns  of  five  hundred  families, ....  30 

Duration  of  school  ten  months, 39 

Evening  high  school,  towns  of  fifty  thousand  people  required  to  maintain,  .  33 

Master  includes  female  teacher, 31 

Statistics  relating  to, 31 

Studies  to  be  taught  in,  enumeration  of, 30 

Supervision  of,  by  school  committee, 48 

Towns  of  four  thousand  inhabitants  to  teach  Greek,  French,  etc.,         .        .  30 

Tuition,  payment  of,  by  towns  not  required  to  maintain,        ....  30 

Union  of  adjacent  towns  to  maintain, 33 

Hygiene,  physiology  and,  to  be  taught  in  all  schools, 29 

Increasing  or  diminishing  of  school  committee, 41 

Amplification  of  statute, "  41 

Industrial  and  mechanical  drawing  may  be  taught  in  any  town,       ...  33 

Must  be  taught  in  towns  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 33 

Industrial  schools,  towns  may  maintain, 34 

Attendance  upon,  not  to  excuse  from  public  school  attendance,    ...  34 

Superintendence  to  be,  with  school  committee, 34 

Inspectors  of  public  buildings,  reports  of,  may  be  overruled,    ....  51 

Penalty  for  non-compliance  with  inspector's  order, 51 

Public  building  and  school-house  defined, 51 

Land  may  be  taken  for  site  of  school-house .  52 

Owner  may  have  recourse  to  jury  if  aggrieved, 52 

Reverts  to  owner  if  school  is  discontinued  for  one  year,         ....  52 

legislation,  organic,  relative  to, 7-9 

American  Institute  of  Instruction,  memorial  of, 9 

Committees,  school,  towns  required  to  elect,   .        .        .    •    .        .                .  8 

District  system  of  schools  established  by  law 7 

Grammar  school  provided  for 8 

High  schools  to  be  maintained  by  towns  of  five  hundred  families,        .        .  8 

Greek  and  Latin  omitted  in, 8 

Normal  schools,  provision  for, 8 

Public  schools,  support  of, 7 

School  districts  made  corporations, 8 

School  fund,  establishment  of, 8 

Schools,  time  of  keeping,  for  year, 7 

Studies  to  be  taught  by  statute, 7 

Teachers,  memorial  of  American  Institute  for  better  preparation  of,     .  9 

Towns  of  four  thousand  inhabitants  to  teach  classics,    .....  8 

Military  drill  and  other  exercises  may  be  taught  in, 46 

Moral  instruction,  duties  of  instructors  of  youth  concerning,    ....  35 

Narcotics,  stimulants  and,  effects  of, 29 

Nautical  schools,  attendance  upon,  may  excuse  from  public  school  attendance,  34 

Number  to  be  kept  sufficient  for  all  children  of  school  age,       ....  29 

Old  school  board  to  report  schools  of  year, 40 

Organization  of  board  of  school  committee, 41 

Secretary  and  book  of  records  essential  to, 41 

Owner  of  land  taken  for  site  of  school  may  resort  to  jury,         ....  52 

Patriotic  exercises  by,  on  session  preceding  memorial  day,        ....  76 


96  INDEX. 


Public  schools  —  concluded. 

Pay  of  school  committees  in  towns  and  in  cities, 48 

Not  to  receive,  under  superintendent  laws  of  1854  and  1870  unless  town  pro- 
vides,    48 

To  receive,  under  law  of  1888 49 

Penalty  for  non-compliance  with  the  order  of  inspectors  of  public  buildings,  .  51 

For  neglect  of  town  to  elect  a  school  committee, 36 

For  refusal  of  towns  to  raise  money  for  schools, 36 

Persons  over  twelve  years  of  age,  schools  additional  for, 34 

Physiology  and  hygiene  taught  in,  as  a  regular  branch,    .        .        .                .  29 

Exposition  of  the  law, 30 

Privies  in  proper  condition  and  in  number  to  meet  reasonable  wants,       .        .  50 

Public  buildings  and  school-house  defined, 51 

Pupils,  exclusion  of,  from  school, 39,  61 

Qualifications,   children's,  for   admission  to,   determined  by   school    com- 
mittee,           38 

Of  teachers,  determined  by  committees, 42 

Report  of,  for  school  year  to  be  made  by  old  board, 40 

Sanitary  condition  of  school-houses,  provision  for 50 

Inspector's  reports  upon 51 

Privies,  condition  and  number  of, 50 

Ventilation  of  school-houses,  to  meet, 51 

School  committee  (see  School  Committees). 

Qualifications  for  admission  to  public  schools  determined  by  school  committees,  38 

Of  teachers,  determined  by  committee 42 

Reading  and  writing  requisites  for  employment  of  children  under  fourteen  years 

of  age .        .        .  66 

Records  of  proceedings  of  school  committee  to  be  kept  by  secretary,      ...  41 

Refusal  of  whole  board  of  school  committee  to  serve, 39 

Registers,  school  committee  to  cause  to  be  kept, .54 

School  committee  nor  town,  neither  has  power  to  excuse  from  keeping,  .        .  55 

Teachers,  duty  of,  concerning 56 

Registers  and  returns,  form  of,  prescribed  by  Board  of  Education,         ...  13 

Duty  of  committees  concerning, 13 

Town  clerk  to  forward  to  school  committee, 13 

Regulations  concerning  proper  use  of  text-books  and  supplies  made  by  school 

committees, 47 

Religious  instruction  not  a  bar  to  approval  of  private  schools,         ....  59 

Report,  annual,  of  Board  of  Education  upon  system  of  public  schools,  .        .        .  13 

Chairman  and  secretary  to  sign,  if  committee  consists  of  thirteen  or  more,      .  56 

Of  school  committee  to  be  made  by  old  board, 40 

Truant  officers',  to  be  published  with  school  committees',         ....  70 

Reports  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  be  sent  to  town  clerks, 14 

Of  institutions  for  deaf-mutes,  blind  and  feeble-minded,  made  to  Board  of 

Education, 18 

To  contain  statement  of  income,  expenditures,  etc., 18 

Of  school  committees,  annually  to  be  forwarded  to  Board  of  Education,  .        .  55 
Printed  form  of,  required  to  conform  in  size  to  that  of  report  of  Board  of 

Education, 55 

Of  truant  laws,  town's  compliance  with, 72 

Property  of  town,  not  of  individuals, 56 

Town  clerk  to  deliver  to  school  committee 56 

Returns  of  school  committee  consisting  of  not  less  than  thirteen  signed  by  chair- 
man and  secretary, 56 

Of  attendance  to  be  compiled  by  school  committee, 54 

Reversion  of  land  taken  for  school-house  on  discontinuance  of  school,    ...  52 

Salem  Normal  School,  resolve  concerning, .77 


INDEX.  97 

PAGE 

Sanitary  conditions  of  school-houses,  provisions  for, 50 

Inspectors'  reports  upon, 51 

Privies,  condition  and  number  of, 50 

Ventilation  of  school-houses  to  meet, 51 

Scholar,  tuition  out  of  town  for,  charged  at  average  of  town  rate,    ....        60 

Scholarships,  State,  in  institutes,  distribution  of,  by  groups, 81-84 

In  Institute  of  Technology  at  Boston, 81 

In  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute, 81 

School  committee,  election  and  general  powers  of, 37 

Annually  to  make  report  in  detail  of  condition  of  schools,        ....        55 

Form  and  size  of  report  prescribed, 55 

Penalty  for  failure  to  make, 55 

Transmission  of,  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Education  in  April,       ...        55 

Attendance  of  children  at  school,  duties  concerning, 38,  57-70 

Bible,  daily  reading  of,  in  schools  to  be  required  by 45 

Blanks  for  returns  not  being  received,  to  notify  secretary  of  the  Board  of 

Education 53 

Books  and  supplies,  provision  for, 45-47 

Books  of  reference  and  apparatus  to  be  provided  by, 47 

Branches  to  be  taught  at  option  of, 29 

Census  of  school  children  to  be  secured  by 53 

Certificate  of  enumeration  to  be  transmitted  to  Board  of  Education,        .        .        53 

Of  teachers'  qualifications  to  be  granted  by,  42 

Diploma  of  normal  schools  in  lieu  of, .        .       41 

Chairman  and  secretary  of,  in  case  of  union  of  towns,  to  employ  superintend- 
ent  48 

Children,  distribution  of,  in  schools  by, 38 

Convention  of  committee  of  towns  uniting  to  employ  superintendent,       .        .        49 

Conveyance  of  children  to  school,  duty  of,  concerning 37 

Course  of  studies  under, 29,30,33,34,35,45,46 

Duties  as  supervisors  of  schools, 29-72 

Contagious  diseases  and  vaccination, 60,  61 

Contiguous  portions  of  adjacent  towns,  union  schools  for,      ....        34 

Contracts  with  teachers, 41 

Dismissal  of  teachers, 44 

Employment  of  children, 63-73 

Evening  industrial  schools 31,  33,  34 

Examination,  selection  and  discharge  of  teachers,          ...       41,  42,  44,  45 

Exclusion  of  children  from  public  schools, 39,  44,  61 

Industrial,  nautical  and  union  schools, 34 

Registers  and  returns, 53, 57 

School-houses, 50,  63 

Superintendents', 48,  50 

Truancy  and  truant  laws, 69,  72 

Union  high  schools  for  different  towns, 33 

Visits  of  committees  to  schools, 45 

Election,  method  and  time  of, 

Penalty  of  towns  for  neglect  to  elect, 

Sex  no  bar  to  eligibility  to  office, 37 

Examination  of  teachers,  duty  of,  concerning, 42 

Expulsion  of  child  from  public  school  by, 

Evening  schools,  supervision  of,  by,  .        . 31,  33 

Failure  of  towns  to  elect,  penalty  for, 36 

Forfeiture  moneys  of  town  applied  by,  to  schools 36 

General  charge  and  supervision  of  schools  by, 

High  school,  admission  to,  determined  by, 

History  of  legislation  concerning, 38 


98  INDEX. 

PAGE 

School  committee,  new  members  of  board,  election  of, 39-41 

Increasing  or  decreasing  number  of, 41 

Number  of,  to  be  three  or  a  multiple  of  three, 37 

Old  board  to  make  returns  for  their  school  year,        ......  40 

Organization  of  the  board  of, 41 

Of  the  public  schools,  intrusted  to, 38 

Pay  of,  in  cities  and  towns,                  .      ' 48 

Where  superintendents  are  employed  under  laws  of  1854  and  1870,       .        .  48 

Exceptions  under  law  of  1888, 49 

Withheld  on  failure  to  perform  certain  duties, 56 

Penalty  of  towns  neglecting  to  elect, 36 

Power  of,  to  admit  to  school  outside  of  compulsory  age, 58 

Private  school  instruction,  quality  to  be  ascertained  by, 59 

Pupils,  exclusion  of,  from  school  by, 39 

Qualifications  of  teachers  determined  by, 42 

Refusal  of  whole  board  to  serve, 39 

Regulations  concerning  proper  use  of  text-books  and  supplies  made  by,          .  47 
Report  and  returns  where  number  of,  is  not  less  than  thirteen  may  be  signed 

by  chairman  and  secretary, 56 

Reports  of,  two  in  number,  annually  to  be  forwarded  to  Board  of  Education,  55 

One  to  be  deposited  with  town  clerk, •  55 

Reports  relative  to  town's  compliance  with  truant  laws  made  by,     ...  72 

Returns  of  attendance,  etc.,  to  be  compiled  by, 54 

Salary  of  teachers  fixed  by, 42 

School  fund,  town's  portion  of  income  of,  to  be  reported  by,     ....  54 

School-houses,  duties  of,  concerning, 50 

School,  place  for,  to  be  provided  by, 50 

School  registers,  to  cause  to  be  kept 54 

Secretary,  duty  of,  to  appoint, •        • 

Records  of  proceedings  to  be  kept  by,     . 

Sectarian  books  in  schools  not  to  be  authorized  by, 45 

Sex  no  bar  to  eligibility  to  office  of, 37 

Studies,  course  of,  to  be  prescribed  by 

Sum  of  money  raised  to  be  certified  to  by, 53 

Superintendence  confers  large  powers  upon 

Superintendent  of  schools,  appointment  of,  by 48 

Supervision,  general,  of  schools  by,    .        . 43 

Of  evening  high  schools  by, 

Of  industrial  schools  by, 

Of  union  high  schools  by, 

Teachers,  contract  with,  vested  in, 41 

Tenure  of  office  of,  determined  by, 

Term  of  office  to  be  three  years, 37 

Committees  elected  to  fill  vacancies, 40 

Text-books,  changes  in,  directed  by, 

Change  in,  requires  two-thirds  vote  of, 

Transporting  of  children  to  school,  duty  of,  concerning, 

Truant  officers  act  under  direction  of, 

To  be  chosen  and  pay  fixed  by, 70 

Tuition  of  non-resident  pupils  fixed  by, 60 

Union  schools,  duties  of,  concerning, 

Vacancies  in  office  of,  how  filled, 

Term  of  service  of  persons  filling  office, 

Valid  election,  what  constitutes,  in  case  of  vacancy, 39 

Visits  to  schools,  when  to  be  made  by 45 

School  districts  made  corporations  in  1817, 8 

School  funds  (see  Funds) . 


INDEX.  99 

PAGE 

School-houses,  sufficient  number  to  be  provided, 50 

Care  of,  intrusted  to  school  committee  unless  town  otherwise  provides,   .        .  50 

Town,  penalty  for  not  providing 50 

Definition  of, 51 

Land  may  be  taken  for  site  of, .52 

Location  of,  by  town, 51 

Sanitary  conditions  of, 50 

Inspector  of  public  buildings  to  report  condition  of, /51 

School  committee  to  provide  place  for  school 50 

Use  of,  subject  to  rules  of  school  committee,      .  • 52 

School  moneys  not  to  be  given  by  town  to  individuals  to  pay  tuition,      ...  60 

School  premises  under  control  of  teacher, 44 

School  registers  and  returns  of  schools, 53-57 

Blank  forms  duly  filled  to  be  returned  by  committees  to  secretary  of  the  Board 

ofEducation, , 54 

Board  of  Education,  secretary  of,  to  be  notified  of  failure  to  receive  blanks,   .  53 
Certificate,  form  of,  for  transmitting  information  to  secretary  of  Board  of 

Education 54 

Children,  enumeration  of,  to  be  secured  by  school  committee 54 

Copies  of  school  committee's  reports  to  be  sent  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  to  town  clerk, 55 

Failure  of  committees  to  make  returns  or  report 55 

Incorrect  returns  from  committees  to  be  returned  by  secretary  of  Board  of 

Education, 55 

Month,  for  school  records,  equals  twenty  days, 54 

Pay  of  teacher  depends  upon  filling  and  returning  register,        ....  56 
Penalty  applied  to  parents  and  others  for  withholding  information  from  school 

committees, 53 

Applied  to  towns  for  failure  to  make  returns, 55 

Applied  to  school  committees  for  neglect  of  duty  regarding 56 

Printed  annual  reports  required  of  towns,  form  and  size  of  page,      ...  55 

Registers,  duty  of  committees  to  secure  their  faithful  keeping,         ...  54 

School  committee  nor  town,  neither  has  power  to  release  from  keeping,       .  55 

Teacher's  duty  to  faithfully  keep,  and  return  to  committees,         ...        .  56 

Reports  of  the  Board  ofEducation  to  be  sent  to  town  clerk,     .        .        .        .  14 

Property  of  town,  not  of  individual 56 

Town  clerk  to  deliver  to  school  committee, 56 

Reports,  school  committees',  size  to  conform  to  that  of  report  of  Board  of 

Education 55 

Copies  sent  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Education  and  deposited  with  town 

clerk, 55 

Printed  form  required, 55 

Returns  of  school  committee  of  not  less  than  thirteen  signed  by  chairman  and 

secretary, 56 

School  committees  to  ascertain  names  and  ages  of  children,      ....  53 
To  notify  secretary  of  Board  of  Education  of  failure  to  receive  registers 

and  blanks, 53 

School  fund,  receipt  and  expenditure  by  towns  to  be  returned  to  secretary  of 

Board  of  Education 54 

Teachers  faithfully  to  keep  registers,  .                56 

Town  clerks  to  deliver  registers  and  blanks  to  school  committees,    .        .        .  53 
To  deliver  reports  of  Board  of  Education  to  secretary  of  school  com- 
mittee,           S6 

Value  to  committee  of  enumeration  of  children, 54 

Schools  (see  Public  Schools). 

Secretary  of  school  committee,  appointment  of, 41 

Duty  of,  to  keep  records,     «        ,        . *l 


100  INDEX. 

PAGE 

State  boundary  lines,  limit  of  provisions  for  schooling  of  children,          ...  60 

Aid  for  State  and  county  associations, 22 

Normal  Art  School  at  Boston, 79,  80 

Statistics  relating  to  high  schools, 31 

Statutes  fix  no  limit  to  school  age  outside  of  compulsory  age,        ....  58 

Studies,  course  of,  compulsory  and  optional 29 

Hand  tools,  use  of,  authorized  in  schools, 29 

High  schools,  two  courses  prescribed  for 30 

Industrial  and  mechanical  drawing  in  day  and  evening  schools,       ...  33 

Industrial  schools,  provision  for,        .        .        .        .        .        .        .       .        .  34 

To  be  laid  out  for  schools  by  school  committees, 46 

Supervision,  general,  by  school  committee 43 

Of  evening  high  schools 33 

Of  evening  schools, 31 

Of  industrial  schools, 34 

Of  union  high  schools, 33 

Under  Board  of  Education,  of  institutions  for  deaf-mutes,  etc.,        ...  17 

Suspension  of  pupil  by  teacher  must  be  referred  to  committee,        ....  62 

Teachers,  authority  of,  over  pupils, 43,  44 

Contract  with,  vested  with  school  committee, 41 

Enjoined  to  watchfulness  on  account  of  truancy, 70 

Examination,  selection  and  discharge  of, 41,42,44,45 

Registers,  faithful  keeping  of ,  by 56 

Suspension  of  pupil  by,  must  be  referred  to  school  committee,        ...  62 

Tenure  of  office  of,  determined  by  school  committee 42 

Teachers'  Association,  Massachusetts,  aid  for, 22 

County  associations, 22 

Institutes  (see  Teachers'  Institutes). 

Teachers'  institutes  and  associations, 19 

Board  to  arrange  for, 19 

County  teachers'  associations,  aid  for, .        .  22 

Expenses  of  institutes,  how  paid 19 

Length  of  sessions  and  expense,  board  to  regulate, 19 

Massachusetts  Teachers'  Association,  aid  for, 22 

Towns  holding  institutes  since  1845,  list  of, 19 

Technology,  Institute  of,  Boston, 81 

Term  of  office  of  school  committee  to  be  three  years,       .        .        .        .        .        .  37 

Committees  elected  to  fill  vacancies, 40 

Text-books,  changes  in,  directed  by  school  committee, 47 

Change  in,  requires  two-thirds  vote  of  committee, 47 

Todd  school  fund  applied  to  normal  schools, 27 

Town  clerks  to  deliver  registers  and  blanks  to  school  committees,  ....  53 
To   deliver  reports  of   Board  of  Education  to  secretary  of  school  com- 
mittee,           56 

Town's  application  of  truant  laws  to  be  reported  by  school  committee  to  secretary 

of  Board  of  Education, 72 

Towns  of  four  thousand  inhabitants  to  teach  Greek,  French,  etc.,  ....  30 
Must  raise  three  dollars  per  pupil  for  support  of  schools  to  receive  school 

fund, 27 

To  make  needful  provisions  for  truant  children 69 

"Union  of  adjacent,  for  union  schools, 33,34 

What  places  may  assign  for  truants, 71 

Transporting  of  children  to  school,  duty  of  school  committee  concerning,      .        .  36 

Truancy  and  truant  laws,   ...... 69-72 

Truant  children  and  absentees  from  school, 69-72 

By-laws  made  by  towns  for  control  of, 69 

Complaints  under,  to  be  made  by  truant  officers  and  inspectors  of  factories,  70 


INDEX.  101 

PAGE 

Truant  children  persistently  violating  rules  of  common  school  may  be  committed 

to  truant  school 69,  70 

County  truant  schools  established  by  county  commissioners  on  requisition  of 

three  or  more  towns, 71 

Charge  for  support  of  truant  upon  town  two  dollars  per  week,      ...  71 

Commissioners  to  control  said  schools, 71 

Towns  may  commit  to, 70 

Transfer  of  truants  from  town  to, 72 

Discharge  of  truant  children  by  court  committing,     .        .                .        .        .  72 

Duties  of  truant  officers  under  town  by-laws, 69,70 

Employment  of  truant  children 72 

Jurisdiction  of  cases  of  truancy,  courts  having 70 

School  committee  to  report  to  secretary  of  Board  of  Education  town's  com- 
pliance with  truant  laws,   .                72 

To  appoint  two  or  more  truant  officers, 70 

Support  of  truants  in  county  schools  by  towns,  rate  two  dollars  per  week,      .  71 
Town's  application  of  truant  laws  to  be  reported  by  school  committee  to  secre- 
tary of  Board  of  Education, 72 

Towns  to  make  needful  provision  for  truant  children, 69 

County  truant  school,  adequate, 70 

What  places  may  assign  for  commitment  of  truants 71 

Transfer  of  truants  to  county  from  town  truant  schools, 72 

Truant  officers,  duties  under  town  by-laws, 69,  70 

Report  of,  to  be  published  with  school  committee's  annual  report,        .        .  70 

Teachers  enjoined  to  watchfulness  on  account  of  truancy,     ....  70 

To  make  complaints  and  carry  into  execution  cases  of  truancy,    ...  70 

Two  or  more  to  be  appointed  by  school  committee, 70 

Without  warrant  may  apprehend  and  take  to  school 70 

Two  years,  term  for  which  truants  may  be  committed, 70 

Union  truant  schools  may  be  established  for  two  or  more  counties,         .        .  71 

Tuition,  payment  of,  in  union  high  schools, 30,  60 

Two  years,  term  for  which  truants  may  be  committed, 70 

Union  of  adjacent  towns  to  maintain  schools, 33,  34 

To  maintain  high  schools, 33 

To  employ  superintendents, .  48, 49 

Union  truant  schools  may  be  established  for  two  or  more  counties,        ...  71 

Vacancies  in  office  of  school  committee,  how  filled, 39 

Vaccination  of  all  pupils  to  be  secured  by  school  committee, 60 

Valid  election  of  school  committees,  what  constitutes, 39 

Value  to  committee  of  enumeration  of  children, 54 

Ventilation  of  school-houses  to  meet  sanitary  conditions, 51 

Visits  of  school  committees  to  schools  for  purposes  of  inspection 45 

Westfield  Normal  School  opened  at  Barre, 79 

Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute, 81 


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